Jean Pascal took Adrian Diaconu's WBC light heavyweight title and undefeated record in a memorable battle in Montreal. (via www.courrierlaval.com)

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Jean Pascal outpointed Adrian Diaconu in a 12-round war tonight in Montreal, taking both Diaconu's WBC light heavyweight title and his unbeaten record via unanimous decision. Pascal won on scores of 115-112, 116-112 and 116-111. Bad Left Hook scored it 116-111 for Pascal.

Pascal (23-1, 15 KO) is now a major titleholder for the first time, and his last two fights have to have silenced some critics. Pascal has always been a talented athlete, but his knocks were that he made too many stupid mistakes, and he never had a reputation for toughness. After his gritty loss to Carl Froch in December and now this rough and tumble win, which he earned every point of, Pascal should be seen as a legit titlist and a genuinely tough guy. He took some good shots against both Froch and Diaconu, and while Froch beat him, he made Diaconu look slow for the vast majority of the fight, ducking in and out with great shots, and knocking "The Shark" down in the fifth round.

Diaconu (26-1, 15 KO) is back to the drawing board in many ways, though a rematch may not be totally out of the question. Interbox (Diaconu's promoter) now has an option on Pascal, which could mean a rematch or a fight back at 168 pounds with Lucian Bute, should Bute fail to make a fight with Carl Froch.

If you missed it, I recommend catching one of the Versus Network's upcoming 732 replays of this fight over the next year. They still replay Toney-Oquendo and it wasn't that long ago they quit showing Solis-Grigsby II, so this good fight will be around a while.

On the undercard, Troy Ross predictably and routinely outpointed Michael Simms.

In other news:

• Justice has prevailed and Vitali Klitschko won his dispute with the WBC, meaning he won't be forced to fight Oleg Maskaev next or give up his belt. There have been talks of him fighting either Chris Arreola or David Haye next, and Dan Rafael today mentioned a potential unification bout with Nikolai Valuev, which is something I want to see about as bad as I want to see Valuev-Holyfield II.
• Speaking of the WBA title, it's now definitely not on the line in tomorrow's Wladimir Klitschko-Ruslan Chagaev bout. For the time being -- as they "conduct an investigation" on the cancelled Valuev-Chagaev rematch -- Chagaev keeps his "champion in recess" designation, and will leave Germany with his title tomorrow no matter what. That's sharp. Just sharp.

Fights start live at 9pm ET on Versus. Join us!

Photo copyright Vincent Ethier, 2009

Also: "Contender" season four champion Troy Ross (21-1, 15 KO) v. Michael Simms (20-10-1, 13 KO) in cruiserweight action

Bonus coverage starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern - "Boxing's Future Champions", featuring Fernando Guerrero vs. Brian Norman, Shawn Porter vs. Brandon Wooten and Farah Ennis vs. Bobby Jordan

Wladimir Klitschko and Ruslan Chagaev square off Saturday for the vacant Ring Magazine world heavyweight championship, as well as the WBO, IBF, IBO and WBA titles. (PHILIPP GUELLAND/AFP/Getty Images)

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We're going to do both of this weekend's cards to be RBR'd here at Bad Left Hook. I know some folks haven't seen much of Diaconu in particular, but many of you have, and if anyone wants to not pick that fight, that's up to them.

Adrian Diaconu v. Jean Pascal (Vs. Network, Friday - Light Heavyweights, 12 Rounds - Diaconu's WBC title on the line)

Diaconu (26-0, 15 KO) won the interim WBC title last year in a fight against Chris Henry in Romania, which was picked up by Don King for one of his webcasts, but then crapped out before the fight could finish and everyone watching there missed the ending. It was a good fight, and the last time Henry looked very good, and it was a really close fight, too. Diaconu is no world-beater. He's unbeaten, but Pascal might be the best fighter he's faced.

Pascal (22-1, 15 KO) not only says that he and Diaconu sparred in the past (and guess who got the better of it, according to JP?) but says he should have no problems moving up to 168 because it means he can take it easier with his weight and eat what he wants. This is always a dangerous mindset. Kelly Pavlik thought he'd be better and stronger at 170 pounds, but what happened was he was weak and tired easily, probably in part because he just wasn't used to carrying that extra weight when doing his job, and because camp hadn't been such a grueling affair. 99.9% of fighters cut a good amount of weight to fight; the guys that don't often have real problems. Fighting at the walkin' around weight has a habit of troubling guys.

I've said it a lot about Pascal, because I like him more than many do: He's quick, but he's not that quick. He's got power, but it's not amazing. He's got good hand speed, but it's not exceptional. When he fights like he thinks he's a prime Roy Jones, he gets in trouble. When he fights like he wants to beat the other guy and prove something, he can be really good, as his December war with Carl Froch (his only loss) proved. If this is the Jean Pascal that took Froch 12 hard rounds, I think he beats Diaconu, but then I'm not sure how much real grit Diaconu has either. Maybe he has it in spades.

This is a genuine 50-50 fight. The last time Versus snagged a good, competitive, under the radar bout, Cunningham-Adamek broke out on our TVs. This could be a good one, too. Pascal SD-12

Wladimir Klitschko v. Ruslan Chagaev (ESPN Classic, Saturday, 5pm - Heavyweights - Vacant Ring Magazine world championship on the line; Klitschko's WBO, IBF and IBO titles on the line; Chagaev's WBA title on the line)

For as significant as this fight is, it boils down to two very simple things:

1. If Chagaev is at his best and can break through the Klitschko jab, anything can happen. He's not a huge hitter, but Klitschko isn't the sturdiest guy and didn't really prepare to fight a southpaw on this date.
2. If Chagaev can't get inside, Wladimir will paw at him, occasionally throw something semi-meaningful, and cruise to a decision where he doesn't so much win as the other guy sure as hell doesn't win, a la Ibragimov.

I'm taking door number two. Klitschko UD-12