HBO Boxing has some Thanksgiving weekend action for you, as Jean Pascal clashes with Dmitry Bivol. Get the details in this preview.
HBO Boxing: Not Quite Dead Yet. The once great boxing juggernaut is wrapping up their boxing content with one of their final fights this weekend as Dmitry Bivol (14-0; 11 KOs) faces Jean Pascal (33-5-1; 20 KOs). Bivol is the WBA Light Heavyweight (175 lbs.) champion and defends that title here. Ring Magazine has Bivol ranked at #2 in the division, with Pascal unranked. The fight takes place this Saturday, November 24 with a fight time of 10:00 p.m. ET.
How do these two stack up?
Bivol: 27 years old | 6’1” | orthodox stance
Pascal: 36 years old | 5’10” | 72” reach | orthodox stance
What have these two done recently?
Bivol: W – Isaac Chilemba (UD) | W – Sullivan Barrera (TKO) | W – Trent Broadhurst (KO)
Pascal: W – Steve Bosse (TKO) | W – Ahmed Elbiali (TKO) | L – Eleider Alvarez (MD)
How did these two get here?
Dmitry Bivol is a Russian fighter only 4 years into his pro career, but already making big waves. He’s undefeated and has been touted as the future of the division. He became an “interim” WBA champ in just his 7th pro fight, and now holds their actual title. Any doubts about Bivol should hopefully have been laid to rest with his last two fights – back to back wins over the very tricky Sullivan Barrera (whose only other career loss came against Andre Ward), and the solid veteran Isaac Chilemba. Hopefully we’re building towards a unification showdown between Bivol and Eleider Alvarez, which would be terrific.
Jean Pascal is one of those fighters probably best known for his losses. He was clowned on by Bernard Hopkins, beaten down by Sergey Kovalev (twice) and pretty easily handled by Eleider Alvarez. He does have wins over Lucian Bute and Chad Dawson, and was a lineal champ briefly, but for the most part since about 2010, when Pascal has reached for the heights, he’s lost. That hasn’t stopped him from being a big draw in Canada for years now. He’s only won 4 of his last 8, and his last fight was a TKO win over Steve Bosse up at Cruiserweight. Yes, that Steve Bosse.
What can fans expect?
Bivol is undefeated and ranked #2 in the world. Pascal took 8 rounds to TKO Steve Bosse last time out. This is just not a very compelling match-up, period. Pascal is the kind of cagey fighter who typically minds his p’s and q’s – only Kovalev has ever been able to stop him. That adds up to not only being a lopsided fight, but also a lopsided fight that has a high likelihood of being a somewhat slow decision. Just for an extra kick in the teeth, it’s not in Canada, so won’t even benefit from a rowdy pro-Pascal crowd.
Prediction: Dmitry Bivol, UD
Should you watch?
If you have not yet seen Bivol and want to get up to speed on him, sure. Otherwise, nah.