Jean Pascal vs. Lucian Bute
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | January 18, 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | NABF and vacant WBC Diamond Light Heavyweight titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pascal beats Bute by unanimous decision.[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jean Pascal vs. Lucian Bute was a boxing light heavyweight Diamond championship fight for the vacant WBC Diamond title which took place on January 18, 2014 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[2][3][4][5][6] The bout, originally slated for May 25, 2013, had to be postponed after Bute underwent surgery to remove bone chips in his left hand.[7]
The co-production of Yvon Michel's GYM and Jean Bédard's Interbox promotions and televised via HBO, has trumped a proposed HBO-televised rematch between Jean Pascal and RING and WBC 175-pound champion Chad Dawson that was slated for the same date at Bell Centre in Montreal. Lucian Bute had the right to face Carl Froch in a contractually obligated rematch for the IBF Super Middleweight belt, but passed on that, freeing the Englishman to face Mikkel Kessler.[8]
It was the biggest fight in Canadian history since 1980, when Roberto Durán won a 15-round decision to win the welterweight world title in his first fight against Sugar Ray Leonard at Montreal's Olympic Stadium in front of 46,000 spectators.[9] Bute, who is fighting out of Montreal, versus Pascal was pitting the two biggest draws and most popular fighters in Canadian boxing who are considered huge stars in Quebec.[9] Pascal ended up winning the fight by unanimous decision.[1]
Background
[edit]Pascal
[edit]Pascal came off a unanimous-decision triumph over Aleksy Kuziemski in December 2012 that helped him to rebound from the unanimous-decision loss to Bernard Hopkins in May 2011.[8]
Bute
[edit]Bute came off a unanimous-decision victory over previously unbeaten Denis Grachev in November 2012, which helped him to rebound from last May's fifth-round knockout loss to Froch that dethroned him as titleholder.[8]
Reported fight earnings
[edit]- Jean Pascal $2,000,000 vs. Lucian Bute $2,000,000
Fight Card
[edit]| Fight card | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight Class | Result | Round | Time | Notes | ||||
| Light Heavyweight |  Jean Pascal
|
vs. |  Lucian Bute
|
WBC Diamond Light Heavyweight Championship belt | ||||
| Heavyweight |  Mike Perez
|
vs. |  Carlos Takam
|
|||||
| Light Heavyweight |  Eleider Álvarez
|
vs. | Andrew Gardiner
|
|||||
| Bantamweight | Sebastien Gauthier
|
vs. |  Javier Franco
|
|||||
| Welterweight | Mikaël Zewski
|
vs. |  Krzysztof Szot
|
|||||
| Light Middleweight | Sebastien Bouchard
|
vs. |  Giuseppe Lauri
|
|||||
| Light Welterweight | Yves Ulysse Jr.
|
vs. |  Evaggelos Tsirimokos
|
|||||
| Heavyweight | Oscar Rivas
|
vs. |  Shawn Cox
|
|||||
| Light Heavyweight |  Artur Beterbiev
|
vs. |  Gabriel Lecrosnier
|
|||||
International Broadcasting
[edit]| Country / Region | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 Australia
|
Main Event |
 Brazil
|
SporTV |
| Canada
|
Indigo |
 Croatia
|
Fight Channel |
| France
|
Canal+ Sport |
 Hungary
|
Sport 1 |
| Poland
|
Polsat Sport |
| Romania
|
Digi Sport |
 United States
|
HBO |
 United Kingdom
|
Sky Sports |
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b "Jean Pascal tops Lucian Bute by decision". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ^ "Bute-Pascal: c'est officiel" (in French). Le Journal de Montréal. 15 March 2013.
- ^ "C'est fait: Bute affrontera Pascal le 25 mai" (in French). La Presse. 15 March 2013.
- ^ "Lucian Bute-Jean Pascal superfight set for May 25". CANOE -- SLAM! Sports. 15 March 2013. Archived from the original on April 10, 2013.
- ^ "Pe stadion, dar nu la București – Bute va juca cu Pascal în aceeaşi zi în care Froch va boxa cu Kessler" (in Romanian). Gazeta Sporturilor. 14 March 2013.
- ^ "OFICIAL: S-a semnat! Interviu EXCLUSIV cu Bute: "Sunt mai bun ca Pascal, îl voi epuiza fizic!"" (in Romanian). Prosport. 15 March 2013.
- ^ http://www.boxingscene.com/bute-vs-pascal-announcement-expected-shortly--63294 Bute vs. Pascal Announcement is Expected Shortly
- ^ a b c "Deal for Pascal-Bute bout signed". ESPN. 16 March 2013.
- ^ a b "Jean Pascal, Lucian Bute to fight". ESPN. 18 February 2013.