The main
storyline that emerged leading up to former WBC Light-Heavyweight champion Jean
Pascal’s fight against top contender Roberto Bolonti was that if Pascal were
victorious, a world championship fight against undefeated unified WBO/IBF/WBA
Light-Heavyweight world champion Sergey Kovalev would be next for Pascal. Prior
to this fight, I commented that it would be interesting to see if the potential
title shot against Kovalev would influence how Pascal would fight against
Bolonti and whether he would look for a knockout.
This fight
did have the look on paper of an interesting clash of styles between Pascal, a
fighter known for his hand speed, lateral movement, and unorthodox style
against Bolonti, a fighter who entered the fight with a near 64% career knockout
percentage having scored knockouts in twenty-four of his thirty-five career
wins. Bolonti however, also failed in two previous attempts in stepping up his
class of opposition against Tony Bellew and former WBO Light-Heavyweight world
champion Juergon Braehmer. What would happen when the two fighters met on
December 6th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada can be summed up in one
word “Inconclusive.” Some may also say that this fight was simply over before
it could really get started.
The first
round of this fight was relatively uneventful as both fighters were wary of
each other and each were able to have periods of effectiveness in what was the
definition of a “Swing Round.” Neither
fighter stood out from the other and you could make an argument for either
winning the round. It was in the second round however, where the fight would
begin to open up and then take a sudden and controversial turn.
A quick jab
from Pascal would drop Bolonti seconds into round two. It was a flash knockdown
as Bolonti was caught off balance and was not hurt. Bolonti subsequently got up
quickly and the fight continued. Pascal began to let his hands go and landed
some crisp body shots on Bolonti. As the fight seemed to be heating up, it
would be brought to a sudden and controversial end.
In the final
minute of round two while the two fighters were in a clinch that ended up on
the ropes, Referee Michael Griffin ordered the two fighters to break. Before
the two fighters could be separated however, Pascal would land a short right
hand to the jaw of Bolonti sending him down to the canvas and out cold. After
several minutes of confusion as to whether or not Pascal should have been
disqualified for hitting his opponent with a punch on the break that resulted
in the fight being stopped, it was determined that it was an unintentional foul
and that the fight would be ruled a no contest. Bolonti did regain
consciousness, but was carried from the ring on a stretcher and taken to a
local hospital. As of this writing there is no update on the medical condition
of Roberto Bolonti. The obvious question here coming out of this fight, was the
ruling of a no contest the appropriate call?
For his part
Pascal stated after the fight that he did not hear Referee Michael Griffin’s order
to break before throwing the right hand that ended the fight. It appeared
however, at least in this observer’s eyes that Griffin was in the process of
attempting to separate the fighters as Pascal threw and landed the punch.
Although it is certainly understandable that Pascal may not have heard Griffin
due to the noise of what was a packed house at the Bell Centre and thus the
punch on the break being unintentional, there may be some who feel that a
disqualification was warranted. This observer had the reaction that Pascal should
have been disqualified. The clock indicating how much time was left in the
round clearly showed that Griffin had his hands on Pascal at least a full three
seconds before Pascal threw the deciding blow.
My reaction
was based on Referee Michael Griffin having his hands on the fighters
attempting to separate them before Pascal threw the punch that subsequently
knocked Bolonti out. Although it is understandable that Pascal may not have
heard Griffin verbally call for the fighters to break from the clinch, Pascal
throwing the punch after Griffin had begun the process of physically separating
the fighters and had his hands on the fighters would seem to indicate that
Pascal should have been disqualified. Video replays of the incident clearly confirm
that Pascal threw the punch after Griffin had begun to physically separate the
fighters.
There may be
some who are of the opinion that although the punch from Pascal did appear to
be unintentional, the end result was that one man was knocked out as a result
of a foul. This differs significantly from when a fight is stopped either as a
result of an accidental clash of heads where one fighter sustains a cut that
prevents that fighter from continuing or a fight where one fighter suffers an
injury from being tangled and put down by his opponent while in a clinch as was
the case in the first fight between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson in 2011. In
that fight Hopkins missed a punch and ended up off balance and leaning on the
back of Dawson in the second round. Dawson lifted Hopkins up and dropped Hopkins
to the canvas. Hopkins suffered an injury to his left shoulder and could not
continue. Although on that night the fight was ruled to be a knockout win for
Dawson, the result would later be changed to a no contest by the California
State Athletic Commission.
The question
here in regard to this fight however, is whether or not Pascal should have been
disqualified for landing a punch while the referee was in the process of trying
to separate him and his opponent, which knocked his opponent out. Under the circumstances
and having reviewed the fight several times, I believe that Jean Pascal did not
hear Referee Michael Griffin’s instruction to break. I do also believe however,
after reviewing the incident several times that due to Pascal throwing the
punch after Referee Michael Griffin had begun to physically separate the
fighters that there is likely grounds for a protest to be filed by the camp of
Roberto Bolonti in what would likely be an attempt to have the result changed
to a win for Bolonti.
Whether or not
there will be a protest remains to be seen. In comments made after the fight to
The Canadian Press head of the Quebec Boxing Commission Michel Hamelin stated
that the fight was ruled a no contest due to both fighters throwing punches
during the clinch and went on to state that it was Referee Michael Griffin’s
decision to rule the fight a no contest and not the Quebec Boxing Commission’s
decision.
This is
similar to the stance that the California State Athletic Commission took
initially following Hopkins-Dawson 1 in 2011 where Referee Pat Russell
initially awarded the fight to Dawson via second round knockout. It remains to
be seen whether an appeal from Bolonti’s camp will be filed, but in this
observer’s eyes there should be at least a video review of the incident so at
the minimum there can be clarification for the fighters, their camps, Referee
Michael Griffin, and the public so that any confusion can hopefully be
resolved.
As for
Referee Michael Griffin, although this observer believes that a disqualification
of Pascal was warranted, it was a judgment call by the referee in charge and
under circumstances like this I believe it underscores the importance and need
for instant replay to be universally adapted when situations like this occur.
Although I do not agree with the call of this fight being ruled a no contest by
Griffin, it is important to remember that referees, judges, and others who are
responsible for regulating the sport are human and mistakes can happen. Earlier
this year, three of the sport’s major sanctioning organizations the World
Boxing Council, (WBC) the World Boxing Association, (WBA) and the International
Boxing Federation (IBF) announced their intention to adapt the use of instant
replay to settle disputes like what happened in this fight in regard to world
championship fights.
The obvious
flaw however, is that it does not have any bearing on non-title fights such as
this fight was and thus it will be up to each respective Athletic/Boxing
commission around the world to adapt to the use of instant replay to settle
disputes regardless if a world championship is at stake. There needs to be a
universal standard in order to ensure that when circumstances like this emerge
that there will be a conclusive outcome and that fights will not be left in a
cloud of confusion. It is something that is long overdue.
The other
question coming out of this fight is whether or not Jean Pascal will still face
Sergey Kovalev for Kovalev’s unified world championship in March of next year.
It may be true that Pascal did not lose against Roberto Bolonti, but it is also
true that he did not gain a victory over Bolonti either. Although the fight
between Kovalev and Pascal may indeed still happen next year, this observer
believes that if Roberto Bolonti is medically cleared that the fairest thing to
do would be for the sanctioning bodies to mandate an immediate rematch between
Pascal and Bolonti. A title shot should only be awarded to a “Conclusive”
winner.
Whether or not the confusion that surrounds
what happened in this fight will ultimately be resolved by way of protest
and/or a commission review remains to be seen. In my eyes however, the
appropriate course of action would be for a rematch to take place as was the
case when Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson fought for a second time in
2012. Simply put, it would be the right
thing to do for all parties involved.
“And That’s
The Boxing Truth.”
The Boxing
Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.
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