GOOD
I don’t know what got into Jean Pascal but I hope it’s catching.
The Haitian-Canadian fought Badou Jack with the hunger of a 21-year-old trying to establish himself in boxing, not an aging veteran, winging hard punches at a high rate from the opening bell on the Gervonta Davis-Yuriorkis Gamboa card Saturday in Atlanta.
His best moment came in the fourth round, when he landed a right to the side of Jack’s head that sent him sprawling to the canvas.
Pascal, 37, couldn’t maintain his pace beyond the first half of the fight, which opened the door for the more-steady Jack to take control of the later rounds and score his own knockdown in the 12th and final frame.
Still, Pascal’s youthful energy and a passionate response from Jack gave fans a terrific light heavyweight bout that stole the show at State Farm Arena.
I had a problem with the decision – a split verdict for Pascal – because I thought Jack was the tortoise to Pascal’s hare. I thought he controlled the fight with his jab, outworked Pascal overall and was much more precise in his punching.
CompuBox supports those observations: Jack outlanded Pascal 244 to 155 and had an edge in his connection rate, 39 percent to 28.
That said, I don’t want to be overly critical of the judges for two reasons. One, they had similar scores. All three had it 114-112, two for Pascal and one for Jack. That kind of consistency is ideal. And, two, the fight was damn good. That’s also ideal.
BAD
I was expecting one of two things from the Davis-Gamboa fight: a firefight for as long as it lasted or a spectacular performance from Davis. Neither happened, which was a shame.
The foot injury Gamboa suffered when he went down in the second round – or whatever it was – precluded any chance that the 38-year-old Cuban would be competitive. We can’t expect much from an old, declining fighter with an Achilles injury.
That would seem to have made Gamboa easy prey for a knockout artist like Davis, who had stopped 21 of his previous 22 opponents. It didn’t. Gamboa, clever if nothing else, did what he could to survive and Davis was unable to put him away until the 12th and final round.
“Tank” might’ve had an off night. It happens. Or Gamboa might’ve been trickier than we realize. Most likely, Gamboa didn’t train properly leading up the fight, which would explain the fact he initially missed weight and then gave a sluggish performance.
Whatever the reason, a fight that should’ve been exciting was mildly entertaining at best. Davis did land a high percentage of his power shots, which we’ve come to expect. He just didn’t throw many punches, 321 the entire fight, according to CompuBox, and seemed to be tired in the later rounds.
I don’t know whether Davis’ stock suffered as a result of his performance but I’m guessing a lot of people were disappointed.
WORSE
A bit of unsolicited advice for Davis: Be a professional.
The Gamboa fight was billed as Davis’ debut at 135 pounds, although he had fought over 130 at least nine times. Still, he was moving up in weight. And he initially weighed in 1.2 pounds over the limit before making weight on his second try.
Seriously? This is supposed to be your biggest fight and you miss weight?
I don’t want to draw conclusions based on an extra 1.2 pounds but it raises questions in my mind about Davis’ training for the fight. And that was reinforced by his so-so performance, at least by his standards. Is he willing to put in the work to become great or not? It’s not going to happen without the effort.
And was the shove at the weigh-in necessary? Perhaps it was orchestrated to promote the fight, although I doubt organizers would trot out such a tired gimmick. Either way, pushing your opponent and igniting a melee does nothing but make you look bad.
Davis has the potential to be a great fighter, his performance against Gamboa aside. That means he could enjoy fame and fortune. And he already is a role model for a lot of kids in Baltimore and perhaps beyond, who will follow his lead.
With that in mind, I would hope Davis learns from his missteps and grows as both a man and a fighter.