Former light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal, who re-signed with promoter Yvon Michel and also brought on co-promoter InterBox in a deal announced Thursday, has a plan in place.
Michel and InterBox’s Jean Bedard will promote at least Pascal’s next two fights in conjunction with Pascal’s new company, Jean Pascal Promotions. Pascal, a major star in Montreal, will return in September to fight in Quebec in the first fight of the agreement.
Top Rank has been contacted to see if Seanie Monaghan is interested in facing Pascal, according to a source with knowledge of the discussion.
If all goes well for Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KOs) in September, the plan is for him to meet fellow Montreal star and former super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute in December in a rematch. In perhaps the most anticipated fight in Canadian history -- although one that took place too late because neither fighter was still at his best -- Pascal easily outpointed Bute on Jan. 18, after which Pascal’s contract with Michel expired, leading to his free agency and the new deal signed this week.
Bute had an option for a rematch after the first fight with Pascal. If Pascal wins the proposed rematch with Bute, the plan would be for another huge all-Montreal showdown in the first part of 2015 against reigning light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson.
Of course, a lot can happen between now and then. Pascal has to win his fights first, although he is not going to be in much harm’s way. Stevenson would also have to beat Andrzej Fonfara on May 24 in Montreal, a fight for which Stevenson is the heavy favorite. Then it could get trickier. He would probably have one more fight before a possible Pascal match.
If Stevenson wins on May 24 and Bernard Hopkins defeats Beibut Shumenov on Saturday to unify alphabet light heavyweight belts, the plan Stevenson, Hopkins and Showtime have talked about is for a fall showdown between Stevenson and Hopkins (who is already 1-0-1 against Pascal in championship fights).
If Stevenson beats Hopkins, he would probably be looking at a fight with Pascal next -- and not the fight most fans would rather see, a showdown with titleholder Sergey Kovalev. That was in the works for the fall before Stevenson jumped from HBO to Showtime last month.