Jean Pascal survives late scare to defeat Badou Jack by split decision

Jean Pascal and Badou Jack went back and forth in a very close fight, but the judges thought Pascal had the better night as he retained his title.

On Saturday, Dec. 28, Jean Pascal and Badou Jack battled for the WBA “regular” light heavyweight title. Both men are past their primes, but they gave it all they had and produced an action-packed fight for the fans.

Pascal has been granted a second act over the last few years. He looked tired and used up against Dmitry Bivol in 2018, but he has found a way to hurt opponents and put together meaningful wins at 38 years old. He did it again against the slightly younger Jack.

Pascal vs. Jack was a tale of two halves of a fight. Pascal owned the first six rounds, but Jack dominated the remainder of the bout. However, Pascal did enough throughout the contest to impress two out of the three judges.

Jack was the more aggressive boxer to start round one. Pascal picked it up later in the round with left hooks. Jack’s activity drastically dropped and Pascal took over. He maintained his momentum until about round 7.

Jack exploded out of nowhere to start round 4. He trapped Pascal on the ropes, but couldn’t keep him there. Jack continued to time Pascal with right hands, but he grew content, and Pascal caught him with an overhand right that put Jack down. Jack got to his feet, but his equilibrium was damaged, but the round quickly came to a close.

Jack looked recovered in round 5, but his punches lacked pop. Nevertheless, around round 7, the tide swung in Jack’s favor.

In round 8, Jack began to land right crosses to Pascal’s head with increasing regularity. Pascal’s work rate plummeted as Jack’s rose.

It looked like Jack was starting to balance the judges’ scorecards, and he nearly knocked out Pascal in the 12th round. He hurt Pascal early on with a straight right and then followed it up with three more. He eventually dropped Pascal with a right hook, but Pascal got to his feet and found a way to survive with more than half of the round remaining.

When the judges’ scores were read, one scored the bout 114-112 for Jack, but the other two had it 114-112 for Pascal.

It’s hard to argue with the result. It was a close fight that could have gone either way, but Pascal still has a belt around his waist, and his career goes on. On the other hand, It’s hard to tell where Jack goes from here.

This was a fight for relevance. Pascal remains a part of the light heavyweight landscape as Jack falls further into obscurity.