After another war of words outside the ring Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins finally get to trade blows in the ring this weekend when they face off in a Light Heavyweight championship rematch.
When Hopkins and Pascal do go toe-to-toe on Saturday night it will have been almost five months since they last met up in the ring. The initial fight between Pascal, the reigning WBC, IBO, and Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight champion, and Hopkins took place on December 18, 2010, and ended in controversy.
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Pascal controlled that fight early on and knocked down Hopkins in the first and third rounds. Hopkins got up quickly both times, and from the sixth round on he got the upper hand. Hopkins was especially fierce in the final round, landing a number of big blows on Pascal, but he failed to knock the champion down.
After the fight went the distance Pascal retained his titles with a majority draw decision. Two of the judges had the fight scored even (113-113 and 114-114) while the third judge gave the fight to Hopkins at 114-112. The judges' decisions were controversial, and many boxing fans thought Hopkins should have been declared the Sportsbook after dominating the second half of the fight.
Hopkins will get his chance at redemption Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal. He'll also get the chance to make history as the oldest boxer to win a championship title if he can defeat Pascal. At 46 years of age Hopkins would break the record set by George Foreman when he defeated Michael Moorer at age 45.
Hopkins enter this weekend's bout with a lifetime record of 51-5-2 and one no-contest, with 32 wins by knockout. Before the draw against Pascal he was 5-1 in his previous six bouts, with all five wins coming by unanimous decision.
Pascal is much younger than Hopkins at 28 years of age. His record stands at 26-1-1 with 16 wins by KO. Before the draw versus Hopkins he had won his last five fights with two wins by KO and the rest by decision.
In the rematch champ Pascal is favored on the boxing odds at Sportsbook at -140, and Hopkins comes in as a +110 underdog. For the over/under Sportsbook has set the total at 10.5 rounds; the OVER is heavily favored at -340 while the UNDER is listed at +260. In Pascal's last 14 fights he's gone beyond the 10th round 12 times.
Hopkins has gone the distance in 12 of his last 13 fights, and he hasn't finished a fight before the 10th round in nearly seven years.
Jean Pascal -140
Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins +110
Over Rounds O 10½ (-340)
Under Rounds U 10½ (+260)
Method of Victory
Jean Pascal by KO , TKO, or DQ 4/1
Jean Pascal by Decision 6/5
Bernard Hopkins by KO , TKO, or DQ 9/2
Bernard Hopkins by Decision 21/10
Draw 17/10
PICK THE ROUND:
Jean Pascal wins fight in round 1 45/1
Jean Pascal wins fight in round 2 45/1
Jean Pascal wins fight in round 3 45/1
Jean Pascal wins fight in round 4 45/1
Jean Pascal wins fight in round 5 38/1
Jean Pascal wins fight in round 6 38/1
Jean Pascal wins fight in round 7 33/1
Jean Pascal wins fight in round 8 33/1
Jean Pascal wins fight in round 9 33/1
Jean Pascal wins fight in round 10 30/1
Jean Pascal wins fight in round 11 30/1
Jean Pascal wins fight in round 12 35/1
Jean Pascal by 12 Round Decision 6/5
Draw 17/1
Bernard Hopkins wins fight in round 1 70/1
Bernard Hopkins wins fight in round 2 60/1
Bernard Hopkins wins fight in round 3 60/1
Bernard Hopkins wins fight in round 4 60/1
Bernard Hopkins wins fight in round 5 55/1
Bernard Hopkins wins fight in round 6 50/1
Bernard Hopkins wins fight in round 7 48/1
Bernard Hopkins wins fight in round 8 44/1
Bernard Hopkins wins fight in round 9 41/1
Bernard Hopkins wins fight in round 10 40/1
Bernard Hopkins wins fight in round 11 38/1
Bernard Hopkins wins fight in round 12 48/1
Bernard Hopkins by 12 Round Decision 21/10
Jean Pascal vs Bernard Hopkins Odds
Jean Pascal vs Bernard Hopkins goes 1:30 round 10 -365
Fight won't go 1:30 round 10 +285
Jean Pascal vs Bernard Hopkins Odds
Jean Pascal vs Bernard Hopkins Fight goes 1:30 round 8 -575
Fight won't go 1:30 round 8 +375
