Jean Pascal Derails Fanlong Meng But Where Does His Track Now Lead?
Two-time light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (36-6-1, 20KOs) pulled his career off life support with an upset victory over undefeated Fanlong “Cold Blood” Meng (17-1, 10KOs).
The fight started with Cold Blood stalking and hurting the former champion with that straight left hand down the pipe. In round two, Pascal narrowly escaped the round after being seriously hurt. However, the 39-year-old cagey Haitian native would recover to take control of the second half of the fight, landing the straight right hand.
Pascal landed a straight right hand in round nine that dropped the undefeated fighter. Meng got up before the bell sounded and made the fight harder by not using the jab that had been effective in the early portion of the fight.
In the end, the experience of the aging veteran held off a late charge by Meng only to hurt him in the last round. Once the scorecards were tallied up, the judges had it 116-111, 115-112, and 114-113 in favor of Pascal.
WHERE DOES MENG GO FROM HERE?
Meng saw two opportunities to fight unified champion Artur Beterbiev cancelled. In 2020, he was originally scheduled to face the unified champion on March 28 in Quebec City, Canada. However, COVID-19 killed that date and they rescheduled for September 25 in Russia.
Meng was still unable to take the fight because of VISA and COVID-19 restrictions. He would have gotten into Russia only to be denied entry back into China and the United States. Ranked #1 by the IBF and #10 with the WBO, the 34-year-old Chinaman’s title opportunity will undoubtedly take a hit.
PASCAL REVITALIZES HIS CAREER FOR THE MOMENT
For Pascal, this was a taste of redemption as his career had taken a severe hit. After defeating Marcus Browne for the WBA Interim title, he was elevated to Regular champion status. Pascal retained the title against former two-divisional champion Badou Jack in 2019.
In 2021, Pascal failed a PED test during the build-up for the rematch, eventually canceling the fight. Things went from bad to worse as a fourth failed test revealed another banned substance in his system. He had already tested positive for Drostanolone, Drostanolone metabolite, Epitrenbolone, and now Erythropoietin. Pascal was stripped of the title and went on a 30-month hiatus from the sport.
Fighters like Badou Jack feel that Jean Pascal is a blight on the sport and should not be allowed to compete. So who would want to face him? Well, prior to this bout, the answer would probably be ‘not that many folks’. This is because of the PED’s scandal, the inactivity and, like Santa in July, he was nowhere to be seen on any of the four major sanctioning bodies’ top 15 rosters.
Conversely, Meng was well-ranked heading into this bout. So it only stands to be assumed that Pascal will be ranked very soon and then he would have some value to other foes. So like it or not, it looks like the controversy-soaked Pascal will be sticking around for a few more fights after all!! It should be interesting to see what the next chapter will hold.
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By: Garrisson Bland & Bakari Simpson
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