How many boxers with Canadian citizenship can even be called a very high connoisseur of boxing, which they are very interested in? They take very deep doubts, because it was the Canadian boxing school that was never marked with high achievements both in the professional ring and in the amateur one - this is not hockey for you. One of the most famous representatives of Canada in the pro ring was and is Jean Pascal. “Boxer with a capital letter,” - so they say about him in Canada. But in Ukraine and Russia - countries where they regularly win something, they will not accept its achievements as something extraordinary.
Jean Pascal: biography. Childhood and the beginning of the career of "Canadian Ali"
The future boxer was born in 1982 on the islands of Haiti, in a family that bears the common French surname Pascal. The father insisted that the child be named in honor of the famous writer in France of the 40-60s of the XX century, Jean. The mother of the child did not contradict, because the name really sounded proudly. When the youngest in the Pascal family turned 4 years old, they moved from the islands to the mainland of North America - to Quebec, Canada. There the boy grew up, walked on the street and as a whole was no different from his peers. In 1996, his older brother won the Quebec boxing championship, becoming the state champion. After this event, which was deposited in the memory of a very young Jean, he began to attend training with his brother. For a very long time, the status of a Canadian at the place of residence was "Jean Pascal - amateur boxer." For a long time he spent his battles on an amateur level. But to say that he did it unsuccessfully is impossible. After more than a hundred fights involving Pascal, it was his judge who raised his hand in the ring and only in 18 cases his opponent’s hand.
Beginning a career in the pro ring
On February 3, 2005, Jean Pascal (boxer) first entered the professional ring. Over the next 3 years, 25 battles were recorded with his participation. A very good result for the pro ring. In 24 of them, he won, in 16 of which he knocked out an opponent with his blow. This boxer can be called a typical "puncher". He always tries to fight the first number and works a lot on the body of the opponent, which brings him to exhaustion closer to the “champion” rounds. It is with this that such a large number of knockouts are among his victorious fights, which is very atypical for this weight category.
Jean Pascal is a boxer whose finest hour has come
June 19, 2009 is a day that the Canadian himself will remember even on his deathbed. On this day, he was facing an extremely difficult duel for the champion title, in which he certainly was not a favorite. His opponent was Adrian Diaconu, a Romanian who also lived in Quebec, Canada from childhood. Before this fight, he had never lost and was in excellent shape. Before the start of the fight, there was no tension in the air, everything was very calm, despite the fact that the fight itself was for the championship title. It was only the excitement of two boxers who were clearly nervous: one had the first defense of the title, the other had the first attempt to climb the podium.
Fight Jean Pascal vs Adrian Diaconu
The battle began very carefully, no one wanted to take risks, so intelligence about the opponent was collected by both during the fight. Until the 5th round, absolutely nothing happened in the ring, from time to time blows came from one boxer, then from another. Sometimes there was a slight advantage of Pascal, but you can not call it significant or colossal. Only in the 5th round did this small advantage give its return, and after a left side impact that hit the Romanian’s jaw, he had to knock down, which most likely affected the outcome of the battle. Further, Jean Pascal (photo below) did not let the battle thread out of his hands and was close to completing the match ahead of schedule. But the Romanian survived and lost only on points by the unanimous decision of all the judges. On this day, the WBC belt passed to a Canadian named Jean. Pascal is a boxer who gave impetus to the development of boxing in his homeland.
End of career and conclusions
At the moment, the boxer is already 32 years old, and many will say: “It is quite a normal age for pro boxing.” Perhaps if his weight were a little more, then yes. And so the Canadian lost all his speed data, for which, incidentally, he paid in battle with the Russian Sergei Kovalev. Saying that it’s time for him to finish his career, his tongue doesn’t turn, but he is most likely not destined to be on top, no matter how regrettable it may sound.
During his career in the ring, he spent 33 fights, of which only 3 ended in his defeat. Among his rivals one could even see such a surname as Bernard Hopkins. And he had to tinker with Pascal before winning the championship belt from him (according to the WBC). Already now, he can proudly declare that he is the legend of the whole of Canadian boxing, because no one from the country of hockey and bobsleigh has ever managed to reach such heights in big boxing as Jean Pascal managed. Now, even with the word "fight" in Canada, an associative series is immediately built : "Pascal, Jean, boxing ..."