Sergey Kovalev to fight Jean Pascal on March 14
IBF, WBA, and WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KOs) will defend his titles against Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KOs) on March 14 at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec.
The 31-year-old Kovalev is coming off a one sided points victory over Bernard Hopkins in November to unify the three titles.
Next up for the Russian banger is former WBC titlist Pascal, a native of Haiti, now residing in Quebec. who should have plenty of Canadian support behind him as he tries to hand Kovalev his first defeat.
Pascal, 32, has fought only four times in the last three years in beating Roberto Bolonti, Lucian Bute, George Blades and Aleksy Kuziemski since his points loss to Hopkins in 2011.
Many fans would likely prefer to see Kovalev fight WBC champion Adonis Stevenson, rather than seeing him fight a guy that was beaten by Hopkins, but Stevenson does not appear interested in a deal to face Kovalev, so for now, Pascal is the best available opponent.
"Others have shied away for the opportunity to match skills with Kovalev," said Pascal. "For me, this is going to be a great test in every sense of the word. My team and I look forward to this extreme challenge."
"I only want to fight the best," said Kovalev. "Jean Pascal is former champion with only two losses. I'm glad that Pascal is a man and wants to fight me."