The Bell Centre in Montreal should be rocking as two local fighters square off in a light heavyweight title fight. Adrian Diaconu puts his WBC belt on the line against Jean Pascal. Wally Matthews and Barry Tompkins are tonight's announce team.
The tale of the tape shows the younger Pascal with height and reach advantages. He comes to the ring first sporting a 22-1 career mark.
Diaconu is 26-0 with 15 KOs. Though both men get cheers from the crowd, the applause sounds louder for the titleholder as he bounces down to the ring.
The ref is also from Montreal. Bi-lingual introductions are done, naturally, and we're ready for a scheduled 12 rounds.
Round 1
Pascal leaping around and ducking away as the fight begins. Diaconu pops him with a quick one-two upstairs. Pascal steps in for a shot and dances back. Pascal just misses a loaded right. He tries jabbing but is super cautious. Nice right o the body by Jean. Diaconu clubs with a right and tries to follow up. Another nice combo by Pascal set up by the jab. Pascal hits and runs again as the bell sounds.
Franchise: 10-9 Pascal
Round 2
Can Pascal keep up this fight plan for 12 rounds? Diaconu tries some jabs. Pascal ducks a right hand. Pascal goes to the body and retreats. Jean is quick to tie up as Adrian comes in. Pascal lands a right to the head and keeps moving. Diaconu is warned for using his elbows. Wild swinging by Pascal as they are tangled up inside. Pascal was impressive again but you get the sense he is playing with fire.
Franchise: 10-9 Pascal
Round 3
Diaconu keeps pressing forward as Pascal keeps his hands down. Adrian is just a half-step behind right now. Now Diaconu connects to the head and body. The champ is content to work his jab and look for his opening. Pascal goes to the body and ties up. Pascal comes in with a hard right to the body but it didn't land flush. They bang heads and Pascal does some holding and hitting. Good left hook by Diaconu. Close round as Diaconu came on.
Franchise: 10-9 Diaconu
Round 4
Diaconu gets the better of an early exchange, and the crowd cheers as they slug it out. Left hook by Pascal. He beats his man to the punch but eats a counter before he ties up. The Shark lands a couple of glancing head shots. Good action in the center of the ring as Diaconu beats his chest. Good round for both guys.
Franchise: 10-9 Diaconu
Round 5
Pascal hits and ties up as before. The ref is active early on. Diaconu has trouble finding the range. A counter left crashes home for Pascal and Diaconu goes down! Pascal pours it on with right hands as the fight resumes. Uppercut by Pascal in close. Wild swings both ways along the ropes, and the ref is busy now. Here comes Diaconu with vicious left hands. Pascal has to tie up to avoid trouble, and that was a crazy round.
Franchise: 10-8 Pascal
Round 6
Now we've got an entertaining fight and the fans are into it. Diaconu scores to the body coming forward. He lands more punches inside. Pascal goes back to the hit and run game. Diaconu is cutting off the ring better now. Sharp head shots from both men. The announcers want more jabs from Pascal. Right to the body from Jean. More trading in the center of the ring to close it out.
Franchise: 10-9 Diaconu
Round 7
Diaconu is still hunting. Pascal rediscovers his jab. Good combo punching by Adrian forces Jean to duck way down low. Body work by Pascal and Diaconu fires right back. Pascal is still moving well but hasn't landed many power shots in this frame. Diaconu scores with a left to the body. Pascal connects with an uppercut. Pascal touches his gloves to the mat, but it's a slip.
Franchise: 10-9 Diaconu
Round 8
Pascal leaps in with a few quick shots and ties up. Diaconu responds with body shots. Both guys score as Pascal circles. There's a few near misses as they close the range. Diaconu not timing things as well right this second. Pascal goes body-head and retreats. Diaconu is bleeding near his left eye. Counter shots from the challenger in the closing seconds.
Franchise: 10-9 Pascal
Round 9
There's a slight delay to clean water in one corner. Pascal ducks and dodges. Diaconu charges forward with some glancing blows. Pascal jabs as he moves. Nice right hand by the champ and some more; Pascal quickly fires back. Right and a left upstairs by Pascal. Jean uppercuts and hooks while avoiding counters. Pascal lands one and misses a follow-up.
Franchise: 10-9 Pascal
Round 10
This will be a real interesting job for the judges if it goes to the scorecards. Pascal is doing a lot of dancing right now. Nothing serious lands in the first minute. Diaconu scores first and Pascal responds. Adrian goes to the body but Pascal dodges more harm. Good right-left combo by Diaconu; Pascal goes right to the head and then to the body. Both men get in some shots in the final 30 seconds, and that was another close round.
Franchise: 10-9 Diaconu
Round 11
Quick combo by Pascal and he still has energy to move. Some boos come from the fans as they size each other up. Pascal flashing the quicker hands. Diaconu wakes the fans back up with some hooks that partially connect. Pascal throws multiple body shots, but Diaconu scores with a big right hook. Here comes Pascal right back. Left hook by Pascal. Pascal backs off and throws but Diaconu comes charging in again. Great action and another close frame.
Franchise: 10-9 Diaconu
Round 12
Three minutes to go in a terrific fight. The announcers have Pascal up by three, but I see it differently. Left to the body by Jean and he pushes his man back. Both guys swinging for the fences in the center. Tough to tell who got the better of that. Right by Diaconu and they tie up. One minute left. Big right by Pascal. Combo punching both ways. They are throwing bombs now. Huge left by Pascal and a right by Diaconu. Pascal scores with the final two shots - what a fight!
Franchise: 10-9 Pascal
Franchise: 114-113 Pascal
The judges score it 115-112, 116-112 and 116-111, all for the winner by unanimous decision... and new WBC light heavyweight titleholder... Jean Pascal.
Posted by The Franchise
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