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By: Hans Themistode
Jean Pascal has never been viewed as a stepping stone. This past Saturday night on August 3rd, at the Barclay Center, he was treated as such.
Marcus Browne was the young, undefeated Light Heavyweight who also held the WBA interim title. He had it all. Power, speed and a ton of skill. He proved he was more than just potential with a dominant showing against Badou Jack in his previous contest. In that matchup, Browne really took it to the former two division world champion.
Browne seemed perfectly set up. He was supposed to steamroll past Pascal, and line himself up with the upper echelon of the division.
Pascal (34-6-1, 20 KOs) had other plans.
The 36 year old Haitian born fighter showed that he isn’t at the end of his career just yet.
By now you’ve seen it. Browne dominating the action for the majority of the contest but getting dropped in the fourth and twice more in the seventh. The eighth round saw the contest end earlier then what everyone was hoping for as a clash of heads forced the premature ending.
Pascal won a close but unanimous decision on the scorecards that night, but he did more than just that. He greatly enhanced his hall of fame chances.
Pascal? A hall of famer? You better believe it.
In a career that has lasted nearly 15 years, Pascal has fought everyone. He has come up short a number of times in notable fights such as when he took on Carl Froch in 2008. A 2011 loss to Bernard Hopkins was another stain on his resume. Although it is important to note that he did manage to get a draw with Hopkins in the bout preceding his defeat.
Losses at the hands of Dmitry Bivol and Sergey Kovalev were noncompetitive. The latter resulting in back to back stoppages for the first and only time in his career. In short, Pascal isn’t perfect, but he is the ultimate warrior.
His losses are well known but so are his wins. His 2010 technical decision win against then undefeated Chad Dawson was an eye catching performance. The well known and hard hitting Lucian Bute also fell by the wayside when the two fought in 2014. Yunieski Gonzalez, who may not be well known to casual boxing fans, but was a true up and coming force in the division back in 2015. Pascal put an end to that hype train as well.
Fast forward to 2019, and fresh off a lopsided loss at the hands of WBA title holder Dmitry Bivol, Pascal seemed like easy pickings for Browne. The former multiple time champion gave a warning to Browne and his naysayers during the build up of the contest.
“Everybody thinks I am washed up,” said Pascal. “You guys will see that I am not done yet. I have plenty left in the tank. Marcus Browne will not beat me.”
We all laughed it off.
No one is laughing now.
It is hard to determine just how much longer Pascal will remain in the sport of boxing but one thing is clear, for as long as he is here, he will continue to be a force in the division.
