At 40 years old, the indestructible Jean Pascal will still deliver an important fight which, he hopes, will lead him to a title of world champion. In the event of a defeat, however, his career could very well be “over”.
The Quebec boxer confirmed Friday that he will fight Germany’s Michael Eifert in a playoff for the world light heavyweight title currently held by Montreal’s Artur Beterbiev. The gala will be presented on February 9 at Place Bell, in Laval, his hometown.
“This is the last obstacle to return to the top and become world champion for a sixth time, but above all a unified champion of three world titles”, summarized Pascal in a press conference, Friday morning, in Laval.
The 40-year-old athlete does not give himself a deadline to measure himself against the undefeated Beterbiev, who will put his three crowns at stake (WBC, WBO, IBF) against British puncher Anthony Yarde, on January 28, at London.
“Honestly, I’m not focusing too much on it right now,” assured Pascal.
All my attention is on Michael Eifert because without a hard-hitting victory against him, there will be no sequel. My career will probably be over. So I don’t want to predict the future.
John Pascal
IBF intercontinental light heavyweight (175lb) champion Eifert is little known outside of Germany, where he has played the majority of his 12 professional bouts. Winner of his last five duels, the native of Saxony suffered his only defeat against undefeated compatriot Tom Dzemski in the summer of 2020, a setback he avenged a year later.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Jean Pascal and Michael Eifert
“He’s young, he’s hungry, so it’s important for me to be ready,” added Pascal, who considers himself the underdog despite his vast experience (36-6-1, 20 KOs). .) and the three world belts he has held at one time or another in his career (WBC, WBA and The Ring).
“Being the underdog is the story of my life. In elementary school, I was always the underdog. So I feel comfortable in this role. I am again. Good for me because I always cause surprises in this role. »
“I saw the love of people”
Pascal expects his 24-year-old opponent to be hungrier: “I’m not going to hide it from you, I’m much less hungry than him. He has everything to prove and I want to stay at the top of the pyramid. »
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
John Pascal
Sixth candidate of the IBF, Eifert considers himself ready to take up the challenge that Pascal will present. “His last opponents weren’t bad,” reported his German promoter Benedikt Poelchau, echoing Eirfert’s words spoken in German, from Munich. “He has world-class power and a big amateur career. He therefore believes that he is definitely ready to be able to compete against Jean Pascal. »
After his 2021 doping test, which lost him his WBA title, Pascal remembered the good memories of the boxing world by winning against the undefeated Chinese Fenlong Meng, in May, in Florida. The win put him back in contention for a mandatory challenger bout. The withdrawal of Briton Joshua Buatsi paved the way for Eifert.
Promoter Lou DiBella was considering hosting the card in the Toronto area, but his friend Yvon Michel pulled his sleeve to repatriate it to Quebec, where Pascal, also involved in the promotion, will fight for the first time in five years. In 2018, he defeated former hockey player Steve Bossé at Place Bell in a duel that will not go down in history.
“I had been boxing outside the country for five years, I was starting to have doubts [de revenir], admitted Pascal. I wasn’t sure if people really wanted to see me back in action in Montreal. But lately I’ve seen the love from the fans, the love from the people. So I asked Greg Leon, my boxing advisor, to try to bring this fight to Montreal. »
For this confrontation “of no return”, according to Yvon Michel, Jean Pascal will also have a new pressure, that of “selling tickets”.
“For five, six years, he has never had the pressure to fill the place, underlined the promoter. There is also his age. At 46, we did not see the end of Bernard Hopkins. It happened at one point in a fight against Joe Smith, he suddenly got old. At this age, you never know. Jean will fight as if it was his last fight. Eifert has nothing to lose. »
In conference, Pascal was not questioned about his arrest for driving while intoxicated, on the night of November 25 in Montreal, and the charge for refusing to blow properly into the breathalyzer that followed. The boxer claims his innocence and was thinking of suing the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM).
The “last hurray”?
Orlando Cuellar, Floridian coach of Jean Pascal, provides a “very interesting” mix of styles. “Jean Pascal is looking to add to an already illustrious career and legacy by getting one step closer to a fight [de championnat du monde], Cuellar stated. He knows the pressure is on whoever will fight in front of his hometown crowd. He’s in a situation where he has to win, because this could be the last hurrah at the age of 40. He still has it, but time is running out. So we know we’re not just racing against the clock, but battling against a very hungry Eifer. »
Belt missing
Jean Pascal held three world championship belts during his career. But there is one he never saw again, the prestigious one from the magazine The Ring. It is Bernard Hopkins who would have it in his possession. For promotional photos for their first fight in Quebec, the American veteran was shooting for the WBC belts and The Ring. “In jest, Jean had told him: if you want them, take them! told Yvon Michel. When I went to pick them up, Hopkins told me to tell Jean to ask for them himself. Jean was too proud and so he never brought them back…” The WBC made a double, but The Ring refused the same request, Pascal explained at a press conference on Friday.