WBC light heavyweight (175 pounds) king Jean Pascal, of Canada, and former undisputed middleweight (160 pounds) titlist Bernard Hopkins, of Philadelphia, will meet in an HBO televised, May 21, rematch of December's Showtime televised majority draw, according to a report by BoxingScene.com.
Pascal's promoter, Yvon Michel, told FanHouse that the bout could be either in Montreal -- which is Hopkins' request -- or Quebec City.
WBC president Jose Sulaiman and his organization had ordered an immediate Pascal-Hopkiins return about rather than a contractually agreed-upon rematch of August's HBO televised, 11th-round, technical decision victory by Pascal (26-1-1, 16 knockouts) over southpaw former WBC interim titlist Chad Dawson (29-1, 27 KOs) of New Haven, Conn.
Against Pascal, Hopkins (51-5-2, 32 KOs), who turned 46 in Januarly, was looking to become the oldest fighter in the history of the sport to win a significant world title -- 38 days older than when 45-year-old George Foreman knocked out Michael Moorer in the 10th round on November 5, 1994, to become the eldest man to win a heavyweight crown.
"It's confirmed and it should take place on May 21. The Showtime network also wanted the fight, but HBO was faster on the trigger," said Pascal's promoter, Yvon Michel.
"I know that Golden Boy Promotions has arranged everything with Hopkins and we on our side, we will do the same with Jean," said Michel. "Regarding the site, we are in discussions, but we are confident that this will take place in Quebec."
It had appeared that if Pascal did not fight Hopkins, who is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, then he would have been stripped of his crown. It also had seemed that if he did, he could face a lawsuit from the camp of Dawson.
But that appears to have been remedied by the fact that Dawson will appear in the co-feature against former, 168-pound contender Librado Andrade (29-3, 22 KOs), or ex-champion Adrian Diaconu (27-2, 15 KOs).
According to BoxingScene.com, Hopkins told USA Today that his fight with Pascal is part of a three-fight deal that could include a bout with southpaw, IBF super middleweight (168 pounds) king, Lucian Bute (27-0, 22 KOs), of Canada.
"[Golden Boy Promotions CEO] Richard Schaefer structured it with HBO for a three-fight deal, with possibly another fight after that," said Hopkins.
"My hit list is Pascal first, Chad Dawson, and Lucian Bute," said Hopkins. "For me to be in this position to do this at my advancing age will outdo anything I've ever done in my career, and I'd like to thank the WBC again for doing the right thing."
Jean Pascal-Bernard Hopkins Round-by-Round
Jean Pascal-Chad Dawson Round-by-Round
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