Jean Pascal vs. Lucian Bute rescheduled for Dec 7th

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In a surprise move, rival Montreal promoters Yvon Michel and Jean Bedard of InterBox have come to an agreement to match their Montreal stars, former light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal and former super middleweight titleholder Lucian Bute, in what would easily be the biggest fight in Canadian history.

"Bute and Pascal are going to fight each other, it's just when we don't know," Michel, Pascal's promoter, told ESPN.com on Monday. "We are working on different scenarios."

The likely scenario is that they will meet in the spring, probably May 25. A less likely scenario is that they would meet in the fall with each having an interim bout. Either way, Bute would rise in weight from 168 pounds to 175 to fight in Pascal's division, Michel said.

The biggest fight in Canadian history was in 1980, when Roberto Duran won a 15-round decision to win the welterweight world title in his first fight against Sugar Ray Leonard at Montreal's Olympic Stadium. Pascal-Bute would be bigger in Canada because it would involve fighters who are beloved in Quebec where they are big ticket sellers.

"I have already had phone calls from the Bell Centre, from Olympic Stadium and a football stadium in Quebec City," Michel said. "It's the biggest ever fight in Canada."

Said Bedard: "Everybody here [in Canada] has wanted the fight for a long time. It will be the biggest event in boxing history in Canada."

The fight has been talked about by fight fans and media for the past few years, but was never close to being made or even seriously discussed while the two fighters were on separate tracks making big money in other fights.

But with Pascal (27-2-1, 16 KOs), 30, having chronic shoulder problems and Bute (31-1, 24 KOs), 32, getting knocked out and losing his title to Carl Froch last May and then struggling to win a decision against Denis Grachev in his last fight in November, they are finally poised to cash in this mega fight before it goes sour.

The reason the deal comes as such a surprise, however, is the timing. Pascal has had a deal in place, although not signed, to face light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson on May 25 on HBO in a rematch at the Bell Centre. The fight was originally scheduled for March 9 but postponed because Pascal re-injured his shoulder in a unanimous 10-round decision win against Aleksy Kuziemski on Dec. 14 and needed additional time to recover.

Pascal beat Dawson in a dominant 11th-round technical decision in an August 2010 world championship fight. Dawson had a rematch clause, but a series of events delayed it. Pascal was allowed to take an interim bout, which wound up as a draw with Bernard Hopkins. The Pascal-Dawson rematch was put off while Pascal instead faced Hopkins in their rematch with Dawson appearing on the undercard to keep them on track to fight each other again.

But this time Hopkins pulled the upset against Pascal and won the title. Hopkins wound up fighting Dawson twice, a no contest and a lopsided decision loss, while Pascal was out for 19 months after the loss to Hopkins because of his shoulder before returning to fight Kuziemski.

Although Dawson is still light heavyweight champion, he was knocked out by Andre Ward in September. However, that was in a super middleweight championship fight and his light heavyweight title was not on the line. Still, HBO owes Dawson another fight and planned to do the rematch with Pascal, even if there is very little public demand for it.

Michel said Pascal's interim bout before facing Bute could be the rematch with Dawson, but he was not very convincing. It would be a big gamble to take with the Bute fight looming.

"This is what we haven't decided yet. This is what we are evaluating right now," Michel said of whether to fight Bute or Dawson next. "But Pascal will make $700,000 to fight Dawson. He will make more than $2 million fighting Bute."

On Saturday, Michel, Bedard and Bute were all in Atlantic City, N.J., at HBO's Adrien Broner-Gavin Rees fight. Bedard said that while he and Bute were looking at undercard winner Sakio Bika as a possible next Bute opponent -- a rematch of a 2007 Bute decision win -- they also were talking with Michel about the bout with Pascal. Bedard initially called Michel in recent weeks to discuss Pascal-Bute.

The key question is what does HBO want to do? It committed to a Pascal-Dawson rematch but would probably also be interested in Pascal-Bute, which is clearly the more attractive fight. It is almost certain that HBO executives discussed Pascal-Bute with Bedard and Michel, who were with them at Saturday's fight. No HBO executive could be reached for comment.

"There's a lot of interest from people in Canada and outside of Canada for this fight," Bedard said. "HBO already planned for Pascal-Dawson II, so this is an issue for them, but it's their decision. They say that have already planned to work with [Dawson promoter] Gary Shaw and Yvon.

"But Pascal wants to fight Bute more than Dawson and there is a lot more money for him in the fight. HBO likes to be part of very big events. May 25 would be a big event because HBO has [the Mikkel Kessler-Froch super middleweight title rematch] in London and after that (on the same telecast) you could have Pascal-Bute. That's big. The boxers are there, the promoters are there, the fans are there for this fight. Everybody is on the same page."

Shaw is not happy about Pascal-Bute likely killing the May Pascal-Dawson rematch.

"I met with Yvon this week in New York, where he told me that Bedard had offered him a fight with Bute and he would put Dawson on the undercard, give him $600,000 and we could bring our own opponent. I told him, I would never do that to my fighter or HBO," Shaw said. "We finished lunch, I asked, 'Do we still have a fight,' and Yvon said, 'Yes,' and shook my hand, and said, 'We have a deal.'

"That is everything I know. Yvon has always been honest and I would be very disappointed to find out that Yvon has done anything underhanded. But remember, this is boxing, and stranger things have happened."

http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/8960935/canadian-super-fight-jean-pascal-lucian-bute-agreed-to

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InterBox and Group Yvon Michel (GYM) are extremely proud to confirm that the highly anticipated duel between Lucian Bute (31-1-0 24 KO) and Jean Pascal (27-2-1 16 KO) is now signed, sealed and delivered! This huge clash will take place on Saturday, May 25th with details such as the venue and American TV yet to be finalized.

“This fight will mark an historic moment for boxing in Canada. Emotions will be high and the memories will be engraved in the collective memory forever,” declares the president of GYM, Yvon Michel.

“This is the fight that everyone has been waiting for, even the casual fan. It was an honor to help finalize it”, states the president of InterBox, Jean Bedard. “All parties were anxious to reach an agreement and now boxing fans across the World can expect a spectacular show on May 25th,” concludes Jean Bedard.

All others details will be communicated to the public shortly including the first “face to face” between Lucian Bute and Jean Pascal as well as information regarding ticket sales.

http://www.boxingscene.com/lucian-bute-vs-jean-pascal-finalized-25th--63393

Hopefully HBO pick it up and add it to the Froch vs. Kessler II telecast.

This fight will be fun. I think Pascal has stamina problems because he loads up. Does Bute have enough confidence to get it done?

UBeeg9cats wrote:

This fight will be fun. I think Pascal has stamina problems because he loads up. Does Bute have enough confidence to get it done?

Cat hows it going mate ?

I am a little surprised they went ahead with this fight so soon after the Froch beatdown, perhaps Bute's team is cashing out.

Ali* wrote:

UBeeg9cats wrote:

This fight will be fun. I think Pascal has stamina problems because he loads up. Does Bute have enough confidence to get it done?

Cat hows it going mate ?

I am a little surprised they went ahead with this fight so soon after the Froch beatdown, perhaps Bute's team is cashing out.

Its going alright man. I just got burnt out at the palace so I'm trying this place back out and trying to get active with my twitter account. I don't think it is a cash out. I think it is probably the easiest of the bigger money fights. Froch, Kessler, and Ward are all worse for him than Pascal. I guess he could hope old man Hopkins would fight him but that is the only safer big fight.

UBeeg9cats wrote:

Ali* wrote:

UBeeg9cats wrote:

This fight will be fun. I think Pascal has stamina problems because he loads up. Does Bute have enough confidence to get it done?

Cat hows it going mate ?

I am a little surprised they went ahead with this fight so soon after the Froch beatdown, perhaps Bute's team is cashing out.

Its going alright man. I just got burnt out at the palace so I'm trying this place back out and trying to get active with my twitter account. I don't think it is a cash out. I think it is probably the easiest of the bigger money fights. Froch, Kessler, and Ward are all worse for him than Pascal. I guess he could hope old man Hopkins would fight him but that is the only safer big fight.

It's just such a surprise because Bute and his team have been so reluctant in the past to face Pascal.

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One thing is for sure, there will be no tickets available when Canadian superstars Lucian Bute (31-1, 24KOs) and Jean Pascal (27-2-1, 16KOs) collide at the Bell Centre in Montreal on May 25th. Bute, one of the top names at super middleweight, is moving up the light heavyweight division to face Pascal. HBO will televise this match in the United States.

"There are 15,000 tickets sold since Thursday. This is excellent and I think we can expect a full house," said InterBox President Jean Bédard to QMI Agency.

http://www.boxingscene.com/bute-vs-pascal-over-15000-tickets-already-sold--63968

Fight is off due to Bute injuring his hand in training.

http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/9251218/injury-lucian-bute-forces-cancellation-fight-jean-pascal

Now it looks like Pascal vs. Shumenov might happen instead, which would be an awesome replacement fight.

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As BoxingScene.com first reported earlier today, Lucian Bute (31-1, 24KOs) badly injured his left hand and as a result he withdrew from his scheduled Canadian super-fight against Jean Pascal (27-2-1, 16KOs). Pascal-Bute was going to take place on May 25th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. HBO was set to televise the contest.

Pascal's promoter, Yvon Michel of GYM, is trying to secure an acceptable replacement to remain on HBO.

Sources have told BoxingScene that rapper turned promoter Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, on behalf of WBA light heavyweight Beibut Shumenov (13-1, 8KOs), has apparently reached out to Michel to make a deal.

Michel confirms that Shumenov has indeed entered the picture, but HBO has the final say in whether or not the fight would be approved for their network - and then a deal would have to be struck between the involved promoters.

"Pascal likes the fight, I like fight, and [Shumenov's name] has been forwarded to HBO. We will see what happens," Michel told BoxingScene.com.

On the same May date, HBO will also air a delayed telecast of the very anticipated super middleweight rematch between champions Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler, but obviously the network would like to pair that match with a live fight.

http://www.boxingscene.com/pascal-vs-shumenov-clash-mix-25th--65287

Now the whole card is off cause HBO weren't interested in Pascal vs. Shumenov

http://espn.go.com/blog/dan-rafael/post/_/id/3910/with-bute-injured-may-25-card-off

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The Canadian super-fight between Lucian Bute and Jean Pascal has been rescheduled for December 7th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, according to InterBox. Bute (31-1, 24 KOs) vs. Pascal (27-2-1, 16 KOs) was scheduled to take place on May 25, but Bute withdrew after he injured his left hand and underwent surgery last week. It will take several months for Bute to recover.

"We don't think we'll have to postpone the fight again. We're convinced Lucian will be ready. He always keeps himself in good shape and it's only the boxing side that he won't be able to work on until September, which gives him plenty of time to be ready for a fight in December," said InterBox rep David Messier.

http://www.boxingscene.com/bute-pascal-showdown-rescheduled-december-7th--65479

damn...way far off. Not even worthy of an announcement when it's that far off.