Sergey Kovalev scores a knockout win over Jean Pascal in a thrilling championship bout

The Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada hosted a light heavyweight clash between vicious knockout artist, Sergey ‘Krusher’ Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KO’s) and Canadian star, Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KO’s) for the WBA/IBF/WBO light heavyweight titles. Following a dominant victory over Bernard Hopkins in late 2014, Sergey Kovalev looked to increase his title reign by dispatching of another opponent. Standing across from Kovalev was the former IBO/WBO light heavyweight champ, Pascal, who was looking to once again be at the top of the division.

Referee Luis Pabon gave the fighters their instructions and the fight went on its way. As round one began, Kovalev pressed forward, looking to close the distance. Both fighters exchanged jabs but Kovalev was showing more conviction behind his jab, which he often threw to the chest of the Canadian to keep him at bay. Jean Pascal did not open up until the later stages of the round but did no worthy damage.

In round two, Sergey Kovalev fired off a lot of rangy punches, keeping Pascal away from him and also doing damage. Jean Pascal was not very active and took a couple of hard right hands from ‘Krusher’ which appeared to catch his attention. Pascal attempted to dart in and unload a combination of his own, but he was not able to do so with much success.

The Canada native looked to turn the fight around in the third by being more aggressive when he had counter punching opportunities. Jean Pascal got his first meaningful combination of the fight in, a looping right hand to the head of Kovalev, followed by s left hook to the body. During an exchange, Sergey Kovalev landed a hard right hand which visibly unsettled the legs of Pascal. A following barrage of punches sent Jean Pascal through the ropes, leaving him dangling half way out of the ring. The referee scored it as the first official knockdown of the fight.

Jean Pascal survived the third but was not fully recovered by the time the fourth round came about. Smelling blood in the water, ‘Krusher’ swarmed the former champion, pinning him up against the ropes and landing devastating blows. Just as the fight looked to be near its end, Pascal made a stand and cracked the unbeaten Russian fighter with a solid counter right hand. Jean rallied to end the round strongly, going after Kovalev and showing he was still in the fight.

After taking a couple of clean shots, Kovalev settled back down and looked to take command of the fight once again. The challenger carried the momentum he gathered in the fourth into the fifth round and began to loosen up and let his hands go. Surprisingly, Jean Pascal turned the fight around and landed the more telling blows in the fifth.

Jean Pascal continued on with his comeback in the sixth round, showing slick defensive skills to avoid the power shots of Kovalev and do damage of his own. The Canadian had success with his left hook, a product of his work with the legendary Roy Jones Jr. Sergey Kovalev did not fold under the changing of the tide and kept working his jab, but still was outworked by Pascal.

The champion came out with his hand much higher in round seven, looking to avoid any more damage. Kovalev did what he had done early in the fight and kept Pascal at range. Sergey Kovalev did a much better job of avoiding the counter punches and this allowed him to settle down on his punches more. As the round neared the end, ‘Krusher’ landed a hard left hook and stunned Pascal.

As the fight entered the eight round, it was clear that Jean Pascal was still not fully recuperated from the hard shot he took at the conclusion of the seventh round. Sergey rushed in and landed a clean left hook again which stiffened the legs of his opponent. Kovalev did what he does best and went for the kill, landing a flurry of strikes on the damaged Pascal. Kovalev slipped and fell to the canvas in the middle of his flurry but the end was near. As the referee stopped the action to let Kovalev up to his feet, Jean Pascal was out on his feet and stumbled across the ring. As soon as the fight was restarted, two shots from Kovalev to a defenseless Pascal forced Luis Pabon to stop the fight.

While Pascal disputed the stoppage, it was clear that he was still very hurt and had been showing signs that the pace of the fight and the punches were starting to take their toll. After the fight, Pascal was gracious in defeat and acknowledged Sergey Kovalev’s performance against him, while also stating a desire to have a rematch.

With the win, Sergey Kovalev picked up the WBC diamond championship belt, and has now become the mandatory challenger to WBC/RING Champion, Adonis Stevenson. Besides Mayweather-Pacquiao, a fight for the undisputed light heavyweight championship between Kovalev and Stevenson is one of the best fights that can happen for the sport and after this weekend, the fight took a big step to possibly happening in 2015.