Jean Pascal has his work cut out for him when he takes on Sergey Kovalev in their Jan. 30th rematch. But despite whatever personal disdain Pascal and Kovalev have towards one another, they have one thing in common -- they both don't like Adonis Stevenson. In this video interview with FightHub, Jean Pascal talks about why he thinks Stevenson is a fraud, his decision to hire Freddie Roach, and rates Kovalev's punching power.
Pascal began by talking about how he teamed up with Freddie Roach, saying when he worked mitts with Roach for the first time he noticed the difference and immediately knew he needed Roach in order to get to the next level. Pascal says that now that Floyd Mayweather is retired, he knows he has the potential to replace him atop of the pound-for-pound heap and that Roach can get him there.
Then, responding to Sergey Kovalev's recent interview saying that he hoped to literally destroy Pascal's career, Pascal replied: "Let's do this! I'm ready for that. So that's going to be a great fight if he's training to kick my ass, to shut me up, that's just better or the fans."
A reporter mentioned that in Kovalev's interview he mentioned that he planned to do the same thing he did in the first fight, but Pascal says that he doesn't believe him.
"I don't think he's going to go exactly the same way because, he's not super smart, but he's not dumb as well. So I don't think he's going to come with the same game plan, and I'm not going to come with the same game plan so I know it's going to be different."
Pascal also caught wind of Kovalev saying that he was going to finish Pascal sooner than he did in the first fight, so Pascal decides to offer him a wager. He says if Kovalev stops him before the 8th round, he'll make a $50K donation to a charity of Kovalev's choice. If Kovalev doesn't KO him before the 8th round, he wants Kovalev to make a $50K donation to a charity of his choosing.
"That's a good challenge, he likes to talk, he said he's going to knock me out before the 8th round, so he must put his money where his mouth is."
Afterwards, another reporter brought up Kovalev being lined up to fight Andre Ward later this year, and Pascal says he'd like to ruin those plans.
"Next fight I'm gonna break the party because everyone's talking about Ward-Kovalev. So unfortunately for you guys I'm gonna to break the party up, you know, I'm gonna beat up Kovalev and I might fight Ward next, or Stevenson. But Stevenson is just a chicken, that's why I named him 'Aducknis Chickenson'...right now he's our national chicken"
After a number of laughs from the crowd someone says "nobody likes Adonis," to which Pascal replied:
"Honestly, he doesn't have a great fan base because he doesn't want to fight the best. Like I told him 'you fight me, you beat my ass, and you become a megastar in Quebec,' but he's too scared...Like I said, been there done that, once, twice, so he knows that I can do it three times," Pascal said referring to two amateur wins over Stevenson.
"I don't like fraud people, he's a fraudster, he's trying to be bigger than he is, really. The recipe is easy to be big and to be known - it's to fight the best. And he doesn't want to do that. That's why I don't respect this guy as a fighter."
Then, changing subjects back to Kovalev, Pascal say this rematch is about redemption because he knew he could have performed better than he did. He says his defense and skills were a bit off and that it just wasn't his night. When asked to rate Kovalev as a puncher, Pascal says he's the second hardest puncher he's faced, coming behind Carl Froch. On a 1-10 scale, Pascal rates him at an 8.5, but says now that they're doing VADA testing it might be lower this time around. Make of that what you will...