Pascal to fight on rival Bute's Dec. 6 undercard

[blackrican23]

Former light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal, who easily outpointed former super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute on Jan. 18 at the Bell Centre in Montreal in a much-anticipated showdown between Quebec stars, is set for his return -- stunningly on the undercard of Bute's next fight.

Pascal will face Donovan George in a light heavyweight bout on Dec. 6 at the Bell Centre, InterBox promoter Jean Bedard announced at a news conference in Montreal on Wednesday. Also announced was that Pascal's bout would be the first of a four-fight agreement between him and InterBox, which follows Pascal's split with InterBox rival Yvon Michel's GYM.

The signing "will place Pascal in a better position with regards to high-profile fight opportunities in the future," Bedard said.

Bute, who is also promoted by Bedard, will face Roberto Bolonti (35-3, 24 KOs), 35, of Argentina, in the previously announced light heavyweight main event.

"Two big fights such as Bute versus Bolonti and Pascal versus George on the same card is a very rare occurrence in Quebec," Bedard said.

Pascal-Bute was perhaps the biggest fight in Quebec history and Bute is the most popular fighter in the province based on his ticket sales and pay-per-view figures, with Pascal second. But he beat Bute easily, so it comes as a surprise that he would settle for a position on Bute's undercard.

But Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KOs), 31, has not fought since beating Bute (31-2, 24 KOs), 34, who also has been idle since the loss. Pascal and his team failed to land their own television date after discussions with HBO and Showtime and had to settle for the spot on Bute's undercard or Pascal would have gone more than a year without a fight.

"I always had a great respect for Jean Bedard. My company [Jean Pascal Promotions] is thrilled to be working alongside InterBox for my next four fights," Pascal said.

The card will be on pay-per-view view in Canada and has no American outlet at this point.

"I am very happy to be fighting George," Pascal said. "He took (reigning world champion) Adonis Stevenson to the 12th round and I plan to do better so that fight fans can use this as a measuring stick for an eventual fight between Stevenson and I."

Stevenson-Pascal looms as a big-time fight in Quebec because Stevenson (24-1, 20 KOs), who, like Pascal, is a native of Haiti, is also based in Montreal. Pascal is his mandatory challenger.

George (26-4-2, 22 KO), 29, of Chicago, took a bad beating from Stevenson in a 12th-round TKO loss to him in Montreal in October 2012. Since then, George is 3-1-1 and has won two in a row, although he was also knocked out in the sixth round by Caleb Truax in June 2013.

"I am coming to win and to shock Quebec," George said. "I jumped on the fight versus Pascal the very minute it was proposed to me."

 

http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/11746578/jean-pascal-fight-donovan-george-dec-6-montreal