There isn't a whole lot you can say here, so just give this 12 minutes of your time.
Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal have what appears to be a very legitimate grudge here, and there are so many ways you could choose to look at this.
- Bernard Hopkins is being Bernard Hopkins. That is, he's purposely trying to get into Pascal's head, and going about as deep as I've ever seen with that tactic.
- Jean Pascal is one of two things: Humored or rattled. Pascal loses the argument if you were judging on points, because Hopkins simply overwhelms him with trash talk and the ability to shout him down. There are moments Pascal seems convinced that Hopkins is the old man he keeps calling him. There are other moments where he comes off as confused and a little out of his depth trying to trade insults and arguments with the old master.
- Hopkins definitely feels wronged with the result of the first fight. Pascal seems...unsure of how he really feels about the first fight.
- Pascal's "this is Bernard's defense" bit was great -- particularly holding the back of his head.
Either way this is the best HBO Face Off I've seen to date. We've also heard promising things about the one recently filmed with Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye, but now that one has plenty to live up to after this gem.
Oh, and I just got truly excited about this fight.