Sports News
Jean Pascal vs. Adrian Diaconu
Local grudge matches have a long history in Montreal boxing, but next month's Jean Pascal-Adrian Diaconu bout has one big difference -- a world title is on the line.
The sturdy Diaconu will defend his WBC light heavyweight belt for the first time on June 19 when he takes on the slick and gifted Pascal at what should be a large crowd at the Bell Centre.
It will also be the first time that rival promoters InterBox, who handle Diaconu, and Groupe Yvon Michel, who manage Pascal, will pit their fighters against one another.
"We're hoping it will break all records," Michel said Tuesday. "We'd be satisfied with less, but that fight has all the ingredients to be the most salable fight ever here."
The Bell Centre was packed in the late 1990s as Dave Hilton Jr. fought three times with Stephane Ouellet, and the Hilton-Mario Cusson battles of the early 1980s at the Forum were also big draws. Donato Paduano, Eddie Melo and others had successful local bouts in the 1970s and 1980s.
But they were all for Canadian titles or other minor belts.
"Now we have a confrontation that is not only the best contrast we've ever seen here, but the winner will be world champion and might rule that division for a long time, especially if it's Jean Pascal who wins," said Michel.
Diaconu (26-0) is a stocky five-foot-nine bull of a fighter who likes to come out swinging and overpower opponents. The 30-year-old is from Romania, but has fought out of Montreal since 2001. He has had only one tune-up bout in the past year and inactivity may work against him.
The Haitian-born Pascal (22-1) suffered his first loss despite a valiant showing to WBC super-middleweight champion Carl Froch in England in December, but bounced back with a fifth-round knockout of Pablo Nievas on April 4. A quick-handed showman, Pascal will be moving up one weight class.
"Both guys are explosive, bellicose, aggressive people,"added Michel. "We have stylist who likes to put on a show, and we have a no-compromises guy who tries to kill no matter how much energy he spends every round.
"So is it going to last 12 rounds? I don't know. Both seem to have strong chins but with both, their offence is also their defence, so it might last three rounds like Tommy Hearns and Marvin Hagler. But people still say that was one of the best fights ever."
Both fighters and their entourages attended a news conference at the Montreal Casino, a sponsor they have in common.
It was unusual to see InterBox people like IBF super-middleweight champ Lucian Bute and super-featherweight Benoit Gaudet, just back from his failed bid for the WBC belt in Las Vegas on Saturday, in the same room with GYM's Herman Ngoudjo and Sebastien Demers.
When InterBox was formed in the 1990s, it was managed by Michel, who left to form his own company when it went bankrupt and was taken over by its top fighter, Eric Lucas, and Groupe Sportscene, which owns the La Cage aux Sports restaurant chain.
GYM keeps a large stable of fighters and puts on at least one show per month, while InterBox has only a handful of boxers and has four or five fight cards per year.
Both say they were never averse to having their fighters go against one another, it's just that the opportunity never arose.
It was New York-based agent Don Majesky, a matchmaker for both companies, who suggested the Diaconu-Pascal showdown when veteran Silvio Branco's promoter cancelled a scheduled title fight with Diaconu in Italy.
Both sides decided to try it.
"We're a small company and boxing is not our main business," said La Cage aux Sports and InterBox boss Jean Bedard. "We were very concentrated on Lucian Bute's career.
"The plan was to bring him to a world championship. We're there now. It's going well and now we have time to do other things."
He said the two promoters, 50-50 partners in the show, each will try to bring their regular customers and sponsors. Conflicts are solved by negotiation. GYM's Christian Gauthier will be ring announcer, for instance, while InterBox got preference for its beer sponsor Coors.
Bedard said he would be happy to draw as well as a regular Bute fight, or about 15,000, but they hope for more between Pascal's fans and Diaconu's following, which includes many from the city's large Romanian community.
The Bell Centre holds about 22,000 for boxing, and a full house would bring revenue of about $1.8 million, which would make it one of the most financially successful shows ever in the city. The fight will also be sold on pay-per-view in Canada.
There will be no secrets between the fighters, who have watched each other for years. In 2004, Diaconu briefly served as a sparring partner while Pascal was preparing to compete for Canada at the 2004 Olympics.
"After a couple of sessions of sparring, he just disappeared," Pascal recalled. "He knows why and I know why, so if I can do the same thing that I did in 2004, it's going to be an explosive fight and I should win."
Pascal also fired the first jab, pointing out that he represented Canada, while Diaconu boxed for Romania at the 2000 Games.
Diaconu, who had two title defences cancelled in the past year, once because he broke a hand during training, wasn't ready for trash talk just yet.
"I need a strong guy to fight," he said. "With a strong guy, I make money, I make history, I make glory.
"And no matter what happens, the belt stays here."
Boxing
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