Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that the WBC has ordered a rematch between Light Heavyweight champion Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins following their controversial draw on December 18th in Montreal.
“The WBC board of governors has voted in favor of ordering the immediate rematch between WBC champion Jean Pascal and emeritus champion Bernard Hopkins for the WBC light heavyweight championship of the world,” WBC president Jose Sulaiman wrote to the camps. “The winner of this fight has the obligation to fight Chad Dawson immediately without any intervening contest.”
“This is a great thing for boxing and hopefully fans will get to see another great fight with Pascal and I,” Hopkins said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to starting off the New Year by making history as the oldest athlete to win a major championship in any sport.”
“I’m very happy the WBC did the right thing,” Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, Hopkins’ promoter, told ESPN.com. “I think Bernard clearly deserves the immediate rematch. I feel very strongly that Bernard Hopkins won the fight. Now we just need to get it on again. I am sure that Bernard will leave no doubt that he is the light heavyweight champion. I’m going to be talking to [Pascal promoter] Yvon Michel and, based on the conversations I’ve had with him in the last few days, he and Jean Pascal are interested in the fight.”
Their could be a monkey wrench that would stand in the way of the rematch as Pascal has a rematch clause to fight Chad Dawson whom Pascal defeated last August.
“We have signed an agreement to fight Chad Dawson if HBO or Showtime is willing to pay a license fee the same or higher than the last time. So I don’t know,” Michel said after the Pascal-Hopkins fight, when asked which rematch they would pursue.
“Ken Hershman told me the fight was the highest-rated boxing event on Showtime in over three years,” Schaefer said. “The fact that this fight generated tremendous ratings on Showtime means there is a spot for Bernard Hopkins on Showtime. They are excited about having Bernard Hopkins. Bernard showed against Pascal that you can’t count out the older guys.”
Hopkins campaigned for a rematch immediately after the fight, saying, “If this guy has a backbone and wants to walk around with any kind of dignity and self-worth, the only thing he can do is fight me again. If that was me I know that is the only way I could really live with myself.
“If I were him, I would want to redeem myself and my reputation immediately after what happened.”
