Photos: Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME
WBA light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (35-6-1, 20 KOs) barely retained his title by twelve round split decision against WBA #11 Badou Jack “The Ripper” (22-3-3, 13 KOs) on Saturday night at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
It was an exciting fight that featured fast and furious exchanges. Pascal started fast and dropped Jack with a big overhand right hand in round four. The frantic pace gradually slowed over the second half of the fight until Jack came to life dropping Pascal with a series of rights in the final round. Scores were 114-112 for Jack, 114-112, 114-112 for Pascal.
“I won this fight, it was a close fight but I won it,” said the 37-year-old Pascal afterward.
“Badou is a great fighter but no one can say he was robbed. I won that fight. I’m the champ. I think I was in control the whole fight. I kept the middle of the ring most of the time. Badou is a great fighter, but I won the fight!”
Jack stated, “Of course I feel I won the fight, but it is what it is. He’s got a hell of a chin, he’s a tough warrior and I want to thank him for the opportunity. I thought I was winning but maybe I’m wrong.”
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No shame in that loss for Badou. Very entertaining fight. Pascal is a warrior.
Rematch would be legit in this case. I had the fight a draw when I scored it on paper. I got a kick out of Pascal dancing around the rematch question after the fight until it was repeated the second time. Pascal knows this fight was super close and could have flipped either way. Let’s see if the fans get a rematch to watch instead of the politics getting in the way.
Never would’ve thought Pascal would still be at it after all these years with the way he used to (and still does) fight. Good for him, has been one of my faves forever.
Man what a fight! I knew Pascal still had fight left in him and Badou came on strong! Great performance by both Warriors!
Great fight, a type of fight thats good for boxing between to great boxers but most importantly great gentlemen.
Could have gone either way but deserves a rematch.
Juan Valdez, I second that. Hopefully they do it again.
Great fight by 2 warriors. I don’t believe it was a knockdown in the 12th round…Pascal missed one of his looping punches and found himself on the canvas…not by a punch. The Ref did not see how it happened
I agree completely was a slip
With those overhand punches it’s gonna eventually happen ref
Should of seen that
Just before he missed his wild swing and went down he was hurt by some shots from Jack….the swing helped put him down but he was hurt.
A rematch is warranted. It appears the fight could have gone either way. I stand corrected and eat crow as I said JP was shot. The look in his eyes and the way he walked in the videos pointed to something else. However, he turned back the clock against a still top fighter, though in many ways underrated, wither one agreed with the decision.
I want to see the rematch in MGM. After that, since Jack will win, put the trilogy in a Neutral site. #StillTeamJack
Surprised that Pascal won. Thought his win over Browne somewhat of a fluke. think that since Browne defeated Jack, it should really be a rematch with Beiqbw grr UA QeeBFRWS,
Pascal-Jack absolutely stole the spotlight from a mediocre main event.
Damn! Just when you think Pascal’s career was pretty much over, he has two back-to-back victories over top 10 rated light heavyweights. Good for him because he always was an entertaining fighter with a lot of heart, and he was the first one to expose the lazy overrated Chad Dawson.
Great and entertaining fight between two game fighters. I was surprised by Pascal’s energy throughout the fight. I expected him to tire in the second half of the fight, but he never did.
Jack fought a controlled fight, but Pascal looked like the more dangerous puncher. He landed a lot of his looping swings and they certainly looked more dramatic than Jack’s straight shots. I was impressed by how Pascal was able to turn his head and reduce the impact whenever Jack landed to his jaw. The 12th round knockdown was debatable since a wild swing and a miss by Pascal was what took him down.
I thought Jack did enough to win the decision but it was a really close fight and I don’t have an argument with a decision win for Pascal. They ought to do it again. The fans will be the winner.
Very good fight but lets be honest the WBA should not have multiple champs per weight especially since Dimitri Bivol boxed Pascals head off a few fights back.
I don’t think any of us are mentioning or acknowledging Pascal as a world champion. I think we’re all on the same page here that this was just a good fight between two top-level light heavyweights.
I had a feeling this would be the fight of the night. Two long in the tooth guys trying to prove they have something left often produce fight of the year candidates. As a fan, I enjoyed every minute.
I felt Pascal was done after the Kovalev match and while there’s no denying that he and Jack gave us a great fight I still feel he’s little more than a gatekeeper at this point. Really, what I saw was confirmation that Jack is firmly in the same category now.
A rematch would no doubt be fun, but part of me is sure that both these guys should hang it up. If Pascal must fight again, then get him Canelo for one last payday. He’s as deserving of a huge payday as anyone in recent memory and definitely checks the boxes for Canelo:
1) Recognizable name
2) paper title
3) comes forward, so easy to hit
4) won’t fold too early
5) an easy win.
Good luck to both Jack and Pascal. Both men are great representatives of the sport.
I thought the same thing. Regardless of WHO won I thought both would be good targets for Canelo if he didn’t vacate the title.
I thought jack pulled it off, barely. Both fought like lions Tho. Shoulda been a draw if anything i guess. I dont think pascal deserved the nod, nor did the crowd, but it waaaaas VERY close!! Do it again!! Id love to see it…
Didn’t Pascal take a beating from Bivol not too long ago? He looked shot a few years ago. He beats Jack and Browne right after people were telling him to hang it up. If I were Pascal, I’d cash in on a rematch and call it a career before he has to fight a young lion again.
Pascal needed to go to the well to get this one. I doubt he wants the rematch. Badou Jack “The Ripper” is sharp as nails. Holds his hands good, no wasted movement, fundamental boxer working behind the jab. Not good for Pascal unorthodox leaping style.