In the aftermath of Saturday night?s controversy involving Jean Pascal retaining his WBC light heavyweight title against the seemingly ageless Bernard Hopkins at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, there was rampant talk of a rematch between the two after they fought to a majority draw. Most observers had Hopkins winning this 12-rounder after overcoming two early knockdowns. However, judges Claude Paquette and Daniel Van de Wiele had the fight a dead heat at 113-113 and 114-114, respectively, overriding Steve Morrow, who saw the fight 114-112 for Hopkins.
So Pascal-Hopkins II, which played to a sell-out crowd, seems like a natural, right? Well, there is that pesky little rematch clause held by Chad Dawson, who was defeated by Pascal this past August.
Gary Shaw, who promotes Dawson, told Maxboxing, “Yes, we have a contract and I know that [Pascal?s promoter] Yvon Michel is going to honor that contract. The contract called for either fighter to take one fight after their original fight and then they have to fight each other.”
They are resigned to going back to Canada, where Pascal has become a consistent draw.
“Well, Chad, having been the loser of that first fight, makes Pascal in charge of the site,” Shaw conceded. “We know we?re going to Canada; we know what we have to do. Chad?s gotta go there and knock him out. He?s gotta go there with the thought that we don?t need any scorecards and we don?t need any judges. Just take care of business. But other than that, I don?t think I would take a fighter to Canada anymore. I think that the judging- and if not the judging, the refereeing or in general, the officiating- is suspect.”
But not-so-fast; this isn?t just as simple as HBO signing off on this fight. According to Don Majeski, a consultant for GYM (which handles Pascal), “There?s an amount of money that has to be guaranteed to ensure the rematch with Dawson. If they meet that criteria, we would do the rematch. They would also have the choice- I would assume- if they don?t want it, to pass and try to do Hopkins with Showtime. So it?s a conundrum but we?re waiting to see HBO?s answer.”
According to industry sources, that amount is around two million dollars. Would HBO pay that amount for a fight that isn?t exactly being clamored for? And would they do it to make sure that Showtime doesn?t get the second chapter of Pascal-Hopkins?
“Well, I?m not so sure that there?s any network going to be interested in buying a Dawson-Pascal fight,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, which represents Hopkins. “I mean, it would clearly be what people want to see- it would be a rematch between Pascal and Hopkins. And so I don?t know what network would want to buy Pascal versus Chad Dawson.”
Then there is the issue of the appeal filed by Golden Boy with the WBC. “They are actually reviewing it,” said Schaefer, on Tuesday afternoon. “They asked us for a DVD of the fight, which we are sending out today and so it is under review.” He added later, “I hope that [WBC President Jose] Sulaiman is going to stand by what he told me after the fight in the hallways, when he was sitting there in front of Bernard?s locker room- that the WBC will order an immediate rematch.”
But on Tuesday, Fightnews.com reported the following: “WBC President Jose Sulaiman stated Sunday that while a rematch between WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins would be good for boxing, he personally was not going to order it. ?It?s not up to me to order a rematch,? said the President Sunday from Quebec City. ?That would be up to the WBC council.??
When asked about Sulaiman?s about-face, Schaefer said, “I don?t know; he?s probably going by protocol.”
When asked about the judging for that fight, Schaefer told Maxboxing, “I was extremely disappointed; frankly, ?pissed-off? would probably be a better word.” What Schaefer questioned was scoring the first round 10-8 for Pascal, despite Hopkins winning much of that round before the late knockdown. Then there was the even round scored in the tenth by Van de Wiele- a round the two other judges had Hopkins winning. “So many questions. I just think it was a disgrace.”
Obviously, Majeski had a different perspective on the judging.
“Look, I had [Pascal] ahead; if you do conventional scoring, he was five points ahead going into the fourth round,? he said. ?The assumption was he was walking away with the fight and then Hopkins came on strong. If there was any dispute around the eighth, ninth and tenth, you could?ve questioned if someone would?ve scored it one way or the other. I think that was the whole swing of the whole fight. The first three, four rounds, I had Pascal winning; after that, Hopkins took off. The only rounds I would say, not disputing them but where you could?ve, was the perception of a judge going one way or the other, were the eighth, ninth and tenth.
“I was told by Bob Yalen (the WBC supervisor for that fight) that there were seven unanimous rounds.”
It?s hard to deny that Pascal in Quebec doesn?t have the decided home-canvas advantage. But regardless of what the WBC decides or who Pascal fights next, it will be back in this province for one simple reason- that?s where it draws and that?s where the money is. While it?s certainly not fair that any fighter be given an unfair advantage based on geography, boxers like Pascal shouldn?t be penalized for being promoted properly.
“The money is there,” confirmed Majeski, who also consults with InterBox, which promotes the hugely popular Lucian Bute. “If they think in Philadelphia or Madison Square Garden or Las Vegas can draw millions of dollars to do it, well, the gate over here was $1.6 million; 16,000 people paid. So if their assumption is they can do more in America, fight in the United States, period. Neither he nor Bute have ever turned down the opportunity to fight in the United States. No one has ever made them a bona fide offer because the only money they have [American entities] is HBO, Showtime, because they don?t go and promote their own fighters and they don?t promote fights.
“The ineptitude of the Gary Shaws- who calls himself a promoter- he?s as much a promoter as I?m a brain surgeon,? Majeski added. ?He has a relationship to call up a television executive and get a date, period. That?s the end of it. Why in God?s name is the fight between [Devon] Alexander and [Tim] Bradley taking place in Pontiac, Michigan, in an 80,000-seat building?”
Pascal-Hopkins sold out in just a few days of tickets going on sale and, according to Schaefer, was Showtime?s highest rated fight in over three years. A rematch between the two may warrant a bigger venue than the Pepsi Coliseum.
“They could theoretically go outdoors but you would have to wait until the summer,” said Majeski. “So possibly, the idea might be to do the rematch with Dawson, let Hopkins take a fight if he likes and do it in June. Middle of June, we could do it outdoors. There?s maybe a plausible situation there.” Schaefer concurs: “That could really be; I think it?s going to be a huge, huge event. This one was big but I think the rematch will be even bigger. They usually say rematches are not as big but the fire between these two guys, the controversy and everything, it?s going to be humongous. And as a matter of fact, we got a call today from a venue already which is interested in hosting the fight. It?s a huge, huge, indoor venue.”
ALIVE AND WELL?
Pascal-Hopkins showed that boxing is by no means dead, at least on foreign soil. Again, a local draw, in a non-casino venue, who had been promoted consistently in that area did well. And along with the better-than-expected fight, the local promoter did a great job in pulling out all the stops on a production level with the elaborate and theatrical entrances of the fighter.
Majeski, who has been in this sport for decades in various roles, says of the decline of boxing in America, “Promoters have killed it. What boxing needs in the United States are real boxing promoters. Promote in big cities, major arenas on a consistent basis. That would cure boxing. When they stopped televising boxing in 1965 on the weekly shows, within four years, Madison Square Garden averaged eight-to10,000 people a show. They opened the new Garden in ?68, the Forum in Los Angeles, the Olympic was going very strong; the Spectrum in Philadelphia was going strong. Boxing didn?t take long to come back. People got away from watching it on TV and going to the arenas.
“But they can?t go to Biloxi, Mississippi or Miami, Oklahoma, or some God-forsaken place in the middle of nowhere and watch a kid from Brooklyn fight a kid from L.A. It?s insane,? said Majeski. ?They sacrificed the whole idea. It?s great that Andre Ward is doing something in Oakland but they should be running six-to-eight shows a year, developing fighters in Northern California and developing fighters in New York and Boston.”
Unfortunately, nowadays, ?promoting? is, as Majeski pointed out, having a cozy relationship with a promoter or aligning yourself with the likes of Al Haymon, cutting a deal with a casino and hoping to land a couple of slots on the premium cable networks a year.
“We?ve gotten away from the whole idea of boxing- which is an urban sport based in cities,” he continued, “instead of running off of free rooms and board. With the exception of [Don] King and 100-percent [Bob] Arum- and a little credit goes to Golden Boy- they are trying to do something in Los Angeles. The rest of these guys are total frauds. Total frauds.”
VENUES
You don?t have to convince Schaefer that getting back to big market venues might be the way to go.
“My eyes are opened,” he said. “If I could get some of these venues available for some of the fights, some of these class-A buildings in North America, I would jump on it. As a matter of fact, this morning, I had a meeting with AEG and I have to tell you; it was a pretty heated meeting and conversation because they?ve got to clear some dates here at Staples Center. I?m looking at a date for [Saul] ?Canelo? Alvarez for February 27th or March 5th. I?m having the Honda Center [in Anaheim] on hold now.
“But if they are not going to be able to accommodate us, I?m going to have to go to other venues because I told them, ?I want to put regular boxing here in the Staples Center? and I told them what we need to do in the beginning of January [when they return] is get together and lock in some dates at the Staples Center, end of story. Just like the deal we?ve done, it doesn?t have to be exclusive; I?m not asking for that. It has to be that Golden Boy is going to have, next year, four fights at Staples Center and so that we have Staples Center fights locked in because we have the talent, we have the fighters. I?d love to have ?Canelo? fight twice a year at Staples Center.”
I got a solution; evict the Clippers. C?mon, it?s not like anyone would miss them.
RAINY FLURRIES
Will have much more on this tomorrow but the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley is now officially a done deal…Speaking to Arum on Tuesday evening, he also told me that he hopes to finalize the deal to have Miguel Cotto face Ricardo Mayorga on March 12th in Las Vegas. Again, more on this ma?ana…According to Schaefer, Alvarez will face either Mathew Hatton or WBA welterweight beltholder Vyacheslav Senchenko. Opening up that HBO broadcast could be a fight that was scheduled last year and never took place, a lightweight tussle between Robert Guerrero and Michael Katsidis…David Diaz returns to action on Jan. 28th at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago…With all due respect to guys like Brian Mitchell and Mel Gray but when it comes to returning kicks, Devin Hester is the GOAT…I can be reached at [email protected] and I tweet at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. We also have a Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing.
