page_title: Jean Pascal
section_title: Pascal vs. Hopkins I, II
hierarchical_section_title: Jean Pascal / Professional career / Light-heavyweight / Pascal vs. Hopkins I, II
caption_attribution_description: 21.05.2011 Fight for the light heavy weight championship Pascal versus Hopkins.
context_page_description: Jean-Thenistor Pascal is a Haitian Canadian professional boxer. He has held the WBA light-heavyweight title since October 2019, previously holding the WBC, IBO, The Ring and lineal light-heavyweight titles between 2009 and 2011, and once challenging for the WBC super-middleweight title in 2008.
context_section_description: Following Pascal's upset of Chad Dawson, 45-year-old Bernard Hopkins was soon named his next opponent for him to defend his WBC, Lineal, and The Ring light-heavyweight titles. Within the first 48 hours of tickets being on sale for Pascal/Hopkins, more than 15,000 tickets were sold. In preparation for the fight, Pascal spent forty days training in Miami.
  The fight took place at the Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City on 18 December 2010. Pascal started strong in the fight, scoring two knockdowns in the first three rounds. One knockdown in the first round, which was disputed by Hopkins as an illegal blow to the back of the head and another knockdown in the third round. However, following the early rounds, the two fighters each held their own, only to have the fight end in a controversial majority draw.
  
  At the end of 2010, The Ring magazine rated Pascal as the 14th best boxer in the world as part of their yearly Top One Hundred Boxers ranking. Pascal moved up fifty-one places on the list, compared to his 2009 ranking of 65. The jump in the rankings was directly attributed to Pascal's upset of Chad Dawson, since the list came out before Pascal fought Bernard Hopkins.
  
  Following the controversial draw with Hopkins in December 2010, Hopkins expressed his frustration. Hopkins, who had refused to fight outside of the United States since 1994, felt there was a judging bias based on the fight being held in Quebec, Canada, as well as a discrimination of his age.
  Hopkins later criticized Pascal's performance, claiming that Pascal took more damage during the fight and that he clinched frequently. However, when Hopkins was asked about a potential rematch, he replaced most definitely only to claim that he was "too dangerous for anybody" and then went on to complain that GYM promotions was dragging the fight out to make him older so that he would lose.
  Pascal defended his performance by noting the two knockdowns he scored early in the fight and defending the legitimacy of the judges. Pascal then expressed that he was unsatisfied with the decision and preferred to have won the fight rather than settle with a draw. When asked about a potential rematch he responded by saying: "If he wants a rematch, anytime."
  The rematch with Bernard Hopkins was held on 21 May 2011 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, broadcast on HBO World Championship Boxing.
  The bout began with both fighters feeling each other out for the first few rounds. In the third round, Hopkins began to find success with the right hand and shook the knees of Pascal. In the fourth round, both fighters exchanged power shots frantically with Hopkins looking slightly wobbled at the end of the round. Later on, before the seventh round began, Hopkins began doing push-ups in the ring. In the ninth round, Pascal's glove touched the mat after a cupping shot and was ruled a slip. This occurred again in the tenth. The fight concluded with the judges scoring the bout, 112-116, 114-115 and 113-115 in favor of Hopkins.
caption: Pascal (left) vs. Hopkins, 2011
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