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In a stroke of, pardon my French, garbage-ass matchmaking, WBC light heavyweight mandatory challenger Marcus Browne is slated to fight former champion Jean Pascal in spring, according to The Ring. The article does not mention a specific date or location.
This is, even by this sport’s nonexistent standards, a terrible fight. Browne (23-0, 16 KO) handily defeated one of the division’s best in Badou Jack last month, while Pascal (33-6-1, 20 KO) has only beaten Ahmed Elbiali and Steve Bosse in the last two years. He was soundly outclassed by Dmitry Bivol last November, outclassed by Eleider Alvarez three fights before that, and brutalized a second time by Sergey Kovalev two fights before that.
I get that Browne needs to stay busy while champ Oleksandr Gvozdyk deals with Doudou Ngumbu, but come on. It’s not like there’s a shortage of nonthreatening light heavyweights whose long-term health we don’t have to worry about.