(Photo: Rogerio Barbosa, AFP/Getty)
Pepsi Coliseum, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Jean Pascal (26-1-1, 16 KOs) Majority Draw Bernard Hopkins (51-5-2, 32 KOs)
Recap- Defending WBC Light Heavyweight champ, Jean Pascal came out strong against the nearly 46-year old Hopkins, dropping the challenger in the first and third rounds. With a second round also in the bank, Pascal went into the fourth, possibly up by 5 points. But, defying all odds and conventions, Hopkins would put on a clinic in the final three-quarters of the fight, winning the vast majority of those rounds with sharp counter punching and sneaky body work that discouraged the hard-charging Pascal. By the final bell, most everybody assumed that history would be made and that Hopkins would become the oldest fighter ever to win a legit world title. However….The judges scorecards: 114-112 for Hopkins, 113-113 and 114-114. The Boxing Tribune Scored the fight 114-112 for Hopkins.
What this means to boxing- Hopkins should be holding the title right now, but as it is, Pascal will probably be forced to face Chad Dawson next due to the rematch clause they had in their contract. If Dawson passes on the rematch up in Canada, Pascal is free to explore a lucrative Lucan Bute fight. Hopkins has a lot fewer options…It will take a while before a chance like this pops up again for him. Unfortunately, he simply doesn’t have all that much time left in the sport, despite his classic performance tonight.
UPDATE: There seems to be some sort of scoring irregularity involving white out and altered scores on the judges scorecards…More to Come…
UPDATE: Boxingscene.com is reporting that Golden Boy COO, David Itskowitch, has reviewed the scorecards and that there is no evidence of any wrong doing. According to him, the white-out was only used to correct an error on the copies sent to the media. He has viewed the original scorecards and there is no evidence of any tampering.
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