Bad Left Hook Live Boxing Results and Commentary: Jean Pascal vs. Silvio Branco

Corona vs. Bizier to lead things off. Corona’s already cut after the first.

Pascal inside the distance for me.

If Richie Woodhall can spark out Branco at 160, Pascal should be able to at 175….

Other thoughts welcome. :)

Since this one’s also in the Bell Centre. I didn’t think they could get Pascal to sell out that venue. Makes me think more and more that Pascal-Bute will happen sometime down the line.

Whittom has been on FNF as a trial horse a couple times before. He’s a tough guy with lots of big tattoos.

Anyone else see the chick ring announcer on Versus Fight Night?

He keeps taking bombs to the head and pretty much just walks through them. Cuts all over and a massive black eye though.

But couldn’t put him away. Whittom maybe won two rounds, so Handy’s win shouldn’t be a split decision this time.

Lucky for me, the ring announcer is speaking in both French and English.
59-55
58-56
60-54
Carl Handy by UD

Two more undercard fights left.

Spearman is 0-4-1 in his last 5, but his opponents were mostly pretty decent fighters. Demers is a draw in Montreal who’s lost in his two step up fights (Arthur Abraham and Dionisio Miranda).

The ring announcer calls Demers the first Canadian middleweight champ in history. He won like the WBC International Belt or something, but never anything more than that.

Fight is at SMW.

Tentative first round so far. Demers pops out a couple of jabs, and after a minute, Spearman finally comes out as the aggressor. Spearman comes inside, and Demers quickly counters him, pushing him back to the ropes and he’s DOWN. AND HE’S OUT. About a minute into the first round, feather-fisted Sebastien Demers KOs Jose Spearman on a perfect right hand.

DEMERS KO1

If Pascal somehow loses to Branco on something that isn’t related to an injury, I guess people can feel free to call me a dolt for that because I might be Pascal’s biggest fan that isn’t family.

My connection is f’d, so no way to see it.

For god’s sakes, I just watched Tyson-Young for the fiftieth time, and I still think THAT ONE was a fix. Kid Dynamite was busting some serious ass back then, but that one was a belly flop if I ever saw one.

Boy Reggie Gross was really banging and clanging on Tyson in the first round of their fight… TO HIS GREAT PERIL. It was amazing to see boxer-punchers like Gross and Tillis try to go to war with Tyson, when they could have just landed form the outside. They did not believe the hype!

Stevenson is a promising prospect from what I remember. Another Hatian who lives in Montreal. Has already beaten some decent comp in Anthony Bonsante and Dhafir Smith. He ain’t young though.

And he’s walking out to the Superman Theme. At least he’s not wearing a cape and tights.

A bit of feeling out to start. Stevenson’s a southpaw, and he’s flicking out a range finding right handed jab. Lands a couple to the body, then tries a downward sloping left hook that misses. Mackey is a southpaw as well and flicks off a couple right handed jabs of his own.

Stevenson seems to know how to bob and weave, but he’s not really throwing much when he gets inside. Mackey doubles up the jab to set up a big left hand, but Stevenson slips under it. Makckey’s hands are just too slow for Stevenson at this point. He can see the punches coming, and he’s out of the way by the time any power shot gets there. Stevenson isn’t doing much himself either, but now all of a sudden, he POUNCES like a tiger, ripping a few big shots to the body, sending Mackey around the ring. Those were probably the only power shots that landed all round, making it a pretty easy round to score in the end.

Stevenson 10-9

Jaco was a fix too. Jaco was on his feet and dancing at the count of five, and the ref waved it off… I completely forgot about this one. Oh, how the crowd booed!

Mackey coming out a bit more aggressive to start this round, using his jab to try setting up other shots, but I don’t think he’s landed a left hand yet this fight. The jab is on the mark, but it’s not a stiff jab that would so any damage. Stevenson tries to time Mackey’s lunch on a left hand, but misses, which is unfortunate. Mackey being the much more active man this round, but Stevenson is getting out of the way of most of what he’s throwing.

Mackey decides to lead with a left and finally lands a good straight punch. Stevenson doing a lot of moving around and popping the jab, but not landing a whole lot. When they get into a jabbing way, the longer Mackey probably has the advantage. Now Mackey sticks his chin way out there, Nate Campell style, to entice Stevenson to actually throw, but he didn’t seize the opportunity. Mackey round

19-19

Canadian TV gave round 2 to Stevenson. It was close, but I thought it was otherwise.

Stevenson starts out by digging into the body, getting Mackey to back up a bit. Finally Stevenson has noticed that Mackey keeps leaving the body exposed, and is attacking the longer fighter there, which should hopefully wear him out int he long run. Mackey with a nice digging hook into Stevenson’s body, but that almost seems to get Stevenson mad, and now he’s throwing a lot more big shots. Mackey lands a nice left, but it doesn’t seem to dent Stevenson, whereas Stevenson’s shots to Mackey’s body seem to be hurting him a bit. Mackey with a lead right that hits Stevenson on the chin, but Stevenson comes back with a combo downstairs.

Stevenson 29-28

Mackey’s starting to snap his jab a bit more, and has been landing them. However, Stevenson has been slipping anything that’s less than perfectly straight. Mackey comes in, but Stevenson times him and nails him square on the nose. Mackey tries the same thing, and Stevenson gets him again, this time with a hook, showing Mackey he’s got his timing down now.

It seems like Stevenson is catching Mackey almost every time he comes in. It’s not hurting Mackey, I’m sure to Stevenson’s chagrin, but he’s clearly scoring the bigger shots. Mackey’s back to dancing around and jabbing from the outside, but Stevenson is just being more aggressive overall now that he knows Mackey can’t hurt him.

Mackey lunges in and Stevenson catches him, hurting Mackey pretty badly. For about 30 seconds, Stevenson is chasing him around and catching him, but Mackey eventually clinches. About 10 seconds left, and Stevenson is just wailing away, and one of his bombs lands right as the bell rings. Mackey is down, but makes it back up by 4 and the round ends.

Stevenson 10-8

Stevenson 39-36

His whole head snapped back and his body turned to jello. He was quick in getting up though.

Now, it looks like the fight is over?

Late start there, as the physician consults with Mackey, as a huge gash opened over his eye on the knockdown. Mackey’s still clearly wobbly though.

Stevenson sees that Mackey is wobbly, and just jumps on him, backs him into the corner, and Mackey is defenseless. The ref properly waves off the fight, and it’s ovah.

Stevenson TKO-5

The punch at the end of the 4th was just vicious, but he’s finally recovered and congratulating Stevenson.

The WBC International Belt looks like a cheap piece of shit.

They’re interviewing JF Bergeron, but I have no sound. Dude looks like Beeker though. Gave Valuev a decent fight as well.

Ring entrances are finally starting.

No entourage (at first at least), coming out to some kind of heroic music.

Pascal is walking out with a tribute of Arturo Gatti playing, which is more apt than some of the folks who have done Gatti tributes.

Tribute ends, and now there’s a laser show, steam, and Pascal rising up from the floor while wearing a huge cloak, and loads of fireworks going off behind him. This is like a WWE ring entrance.

Some old dude I’ve never seen before.

So I think it’s safe to say Pascal still isn’t as big of a draw as Bute.

No anthems is actually pretty refreshing.

Pascal starts by dancing around the ring, while Branco is trying to walk him down. Pascal leans in for a couple of jabs to the body, and Branco tries to catch him. Pascal’s clearly still trying to figure out how to get inside on the much taller Branco while not also losing his speed advantage in the process. On the other hand, Branco is barely throwing because Pascal isn’t providing a stationary target.

Pascal starting to get more aggressive now, throwing two and three punch combinations, but not really landing. Branco comes in and tries to land a punch, but misses. Branco lunges in again, and Pascal catches him with a nice counter that makes him back off and gets the crowd’s attention. Not the most exciting round in the world and a close one. I gave it to Pascal close, but if the fight had been in Rome, Branco well could have gotten that round.

10-9 Pascal

Canadian TV gave the first round to Branco.

Pascal still a bit tentative on the outside. Branco is hesitant as well though. Branco chasing, and Pascal letting him chase, but no punches being thrown. Branco comes in and throws a couple punches on the inside, holds on and forces a break. Pascal really seems befuddled. He just can’t get close enough to Brando to land. Branco throws a couple of big shots, and Pascal avoids them. Pascal lunges in for a shot and Branco catches him, making a big popping noise. Branco backs Pascal into the corner, but ends up just throwing one punch and clinching. Pretty clear Branco round, but as much because Pascal didn’t do squat as because Branco looked so great. Pascal is going to need to pick up the pace, and fast.

19-19

Pascal needs to learn to set up his offense. He’s tried bum rushing Branco a few times, but it’s just not working. Funny thing is that the Canadian broadcasters gave that round to Pascal.

Branco throws out a feel jab, then a big right, but Pascal counters right back with one of his own. Pascal tries throwing a couple of jabs to the body, but he doesn’t follow them up with anything, and he’s too far away to do any damage. Branco comes in and lands a nice big right hand on Pascal. Not he’s headhunting with Pascal on the ropes, but Pascal is just turtling up. Pascal comes over the top with a big counter that gets him to back off.

Out in the middle of the ring, Branco is controlling again, making Pascal fight his fight. Pascal has to be throwing 40 punches less a round than he did against Diaconu or Froch. Finally, Pascal has figured out how to duck under Branco’s head shots and lands a couple of nice punches to the head. Three or four exchanges in a row now, Pascal timed Branco coming in, and was able to pop him.

Tough round to score. Branco controlled the first half, Pascal controlled the second half. Overall, I’d say Branco did slightly more damage overall.

29-28 Branco.

Canadian TV and I finally agree on a round.

Pascal back to being tentative and lunging in with jabs to the body that have little effect. Branco tries to come in, and they both exchange punches, but neither lands.

FInally, for the first time all fight, Pascal tries throwing a jab to the head. Pascal being much more aggressive, gets Branco on the ropes and nails him, but Branco nails him back and flings him all the way across the ring, off balance.

Back in the middle of the ring, Branco throws a two punch combo, and Pascal comes back with a big combination, wildly throwing punches and then….a strange sequence. Pascal slams Branco down to the ground. Ref rules it a slip, and Branco complains that he was hit on the back of the head. Then with the bell about to ring and Pascal nowhere near him, Branco takes a knee, and it’s ruled a knockdown. Just plain strange.

Pascal 10-8 round because of the “knockdown”, I guess.

38-37 Pascal

Branco knows he’s in a hole because of the strange knockdown call, and comes out much more aggressively this round. Fortunately, this leaves Pascal with many more openings to attack, and while he’s missing a lot of wild shots, he’s still throwing big shots, and this is starting to look like an actual Jean Pascal fight.

A couple minutes into the round, and we’re back to posturing – Branco cornering Pascal but just standing there, and Pascal showing a ton of head and body movement, but not throwing. Branco comes in and throws a couple of shots, and Branco comes back up the middle with a nice straight right. About an exciting minute in there, but Pascal wasn’t effective at all when he fought wild, missing pretty much everything he threw.

47-47

Branco’s holding up really well for an old man, but Pascal’s not taking advantage of his youth by being more active. Branco comes in and throws, but misses. Pascal comes right back with a three punch combo, the third punch of which MAYBE grazes Branco. Branco is grunting every time he throws now, and it’s tipping off Pascal a bit, who’s coming back, attacking the body, and then the head. Branco is taking it right back to him, and for about 45 seconds there’s a back and forth war, but Branco eventually decides better of it. When they get into a war like that, Pascal clearly wins the exchanges, yet Pascal seems content to hang on the outside and let Branco outland him.

Pascal rushes in and pushes Branco back to the ropes, eventually catching up with his face as he bounces off of them. And as Branco tries to answer, the bell rings. Pascal round.

57-56 Pascal

Branco doing a lot of pawing from the outside, not really landing much, but keeping Pascal from lunging inside. Branco tries a right hand, and Pascal ducks under it and has a nice 1-2 combo to the body. Pascal’s tape comes off, and the crowd is booing him, as he’s really just not doing much at all this round.

And with 10 seconds left, the wood clacks, and Pascal suddenly jumps all over Branco, just bumrushing him and nailing him with 4 or 5 solid shots. At the very end, it looked to me like he pushed down Branco, but the ref missed it and called it another knockdown, in what was probably another Branco round that Pascal stole at the last second. 10-8 round with the KD, which looked legit on the replay.

67-64 Pascal

Branco back to fighting on the outside, but he doesn’t seem to have as much steam on his punches now. Pascal senses that he’s weak, and is absolutely going in for the kill, as if he saved up all his energy for this point. He explodes on Branco, throwing about 10 big power shots, half of which land, wobbling Branco a bit before he’s able to grab on and recover.

Branco is devolving into a standup Euro 1-2 fighter, which he hadn’t necessarily been most of the fight, but it seems to be what he’s most comfortable with now. Pascal is laying back, but barring a miracle, the round will be his anyway. Branco backs him up on the ropes, but PAscal turtles up and Branco lands absolutely nothing.

77-73 Pascal

Pascal comes out more aggressive again to start the round, but not to nearly as much effect as last round. Branco back on the outside, but his age is starting to show, and there’s just no mustard on his shots anymore. Branco with a few nice shots that split Pascal’s defense, but Pascal comes right back with a bomb, just not a big enough bomb to make Branco stop chasing.

Branco finally starts to get brave, and Pascal pops him. In the middle of the exchange, the ref calls time because Branco’s tape came undone, and right after time is called, Branco drops to the floor to take a breather. Just more strangeness and bad refereeing. I guess that knockdown that Pascal didn’t get credit for makes up for the one earlier where he shouldn’t have gotten credit.

87-82 Pascal

Pascal is looking a bit more spry again to start the round, waiting for Branco to come inside, then unloading with quick and wild combinations. Branco splits Pascal’s guard with about 5 shots in a round, but they don’t do much other than score. Pascal throws a wild lead right hook that misses Branco by a foot and causes Pascal to get completely spun around. Back in the middle of the ring, Pascal unloads with a huge shot that knocks down Branco. Branco is complaining that he was hit on the back of the head, but I didn’t see it.

Brancop gets back up, and Pascal chases him down, throwing a massive flurry, culminating in a straight right hand that LITERALLY sent Branco off of his feet, lifting him up off the mat and knocking him out. Branco gets up, but the ref stops the fight, Maybe a hair early, but there was no way in hell Branco was winning this fight.

PASCAL TKO 10

thx for the round by round brick!