By “Lucicã” – On Friday night on Versus, American viewers will be able to enjoy the much anticipated high-stakes showdown between well-matched unbeaten WBC light-heavyweight champ Adrian “The Shark” Diaconu and top-ranked contender and local rival Jean Pascal, as each vie for more than their hometown’s affection in front of a packed house at the Bell Centre in Montréal. In defending his WBC title, Diaconu, 31, will aim to redeem his last two disappointing performances and prove himself a worthy champion. For his part, Pascal will try to improve on his recent exciting performance against Carl Froch and go one better, proving he has improved and matured enough to win a world title at his second attempt, aged 26..
Only one can rule Montréal and both fighters have made it clear they will come to fight, to impress and to win. Sparks are certain to fly and this one is far from likely to go to the scorecards! Here are ten things you should know about this unmissable showdown:
1. Pascal is injury-free and fully fit for the first time in years. Diaconu is in the shape of his life
Against Froch, Pascal fought with a left bicep injury picked up a month before the fight. It was on the same side as his recurring shoulder injury and that played on his mind a lot before the fight. Pascal’s team went against the advice of the doctor who recommended he take a six months break from boxing and instead decided to go through with the fight after all. This time around, however, Pascal is completely injury free.
As for Diaconu, his biggest downfall so far has been his poor stamina. This can be put down to the fact that he has typically been ill-disciplined and slack in training. If in the past he had regularly weighed in at 190+ lbs a week before the fight, this time, he trained religiously and ate right and clocked in at 180,2 lbs at the 7-day weigh-in. He is in better physical shape than ever; his stamina, in particular, should be better than ever too.
2. Pascal is fighting at his ideal weight
Pascal is coming up in weight for this fight, but this will very much be to his advantage. Against Froch, he had to cut too much to make weight and that affected his stamina considerably in the second half of the fight. This time, he will not suffer from poor stamina. At 26, Pascal has grown into a natural light-heavy; he weighed in at 183,2 lbs 7 days before the fight, but still only had 6% body fat! To further ensure that he will not run out of gas on the night, Pascal has started tapering off two weeks in advance, rather than the usual ten days. As a result, he is brimming with energy like never before but is as sharp and fast as ever. His training camp in Miami was his best ever so far and sparring with the likes of gold medallists Felix Diaz and Odlanier Solis, under the guidance of legendary trainer Pedro Diaz couldn’t have done him any harm.
3. The pressure is on Diaconu
Having disappointed in his last couple of outings, Diaconu needs a big performance to restore his credibility, regain his supporters’ trust and respect and showcase his skills for a wider audience that is either very sceptical about his ability and credentials or, simply, knows next to nothing about him. The stakes are high for Pascal too, because he will not bear to fail to win a world title fight for the second time in six months, especially in front of his very own fans. But whereas Pascal is still young, popular and marketable at home, Diaconu is not. For “The Shark”, the risk of losing is higher than the reward for winning, whereas for Pascal, the reward for winning is greater than the risk of losing. If Pascal has shown an improvement in his last two fights, the very opposite can be said about Diaconu. The pressure is on Diaconu, but fortunately for him, he seems to be at his best in do-or-die situations.
4. Pascal is an emotional, relatively inexperienced fighter who thrives on confidence
Diaconu will try to take Pascal into deep waters very early on, in order to shatter his confidence and force him to fight emotionally rather than box in a composed, controlled fashion. The more emotionally Pascal will fight, the less likely he is to stick to his game-plan and the more likely he is to make a mistake and give Diaconu the opportunity to catch him flush and finish him off.
5. Diaconu is a tactically ill-disciplined fighter who lets his pride get the better of him
Diaconu has regularly failed to listen to his corner or stick to the game-plan so far in his career. His desire to put on a show for the crowd by knocking his opponent out in style as fast as possible has always negatively affected his overall performance. It almost cost him the title against Chris Henry too. If Diaconu lets his frustration at not being able to knock out his opponent get the better of him yet again, Pascal has the skills and ability to take advantage of the ensuing technical and tactical short-comings and run away with the fight.
6. Pascal is better prepared mentally and more confident than ever before
Already, against Froch, Pascal has shown a fair bit of maturity for a 26 year-old. Taking on Froch in the Brit’s backyard gave Pascal a lot of confidence too. In the last couple of months, Pascal has put great emphasis on his mental preparation, and by all accounts, from a mental point of view too, he is better prepared than for any fight in his career so far. It will be far from easy for Diaconu to unsettle him without taking too great a risk in the process himself.
7. Diaconu is an intelligent, experienced fighter with good skills and technique
Diaconu lack of athleticism and fitness and his strategy of cutting corners to force a KO have overshadowed his skill, technique and ring intelligence. Diaconu has accumulated a lot of experience as an amateur, where he performed at the highest level and that shouldn’t be forgotten. At his best, he employs his ring intelligence to get the most out of his skill and technique to put together precise, effective combinations, to counterpunch going backwards or to defend beautifully against the ropes. Diaconu has chosen to forego these aspects of his game for far too long in his drive to please the public with emphatic knock-outs, with negative consequences on his overall performance, but against Pascal, he has promised to prove his critics wrong by showcasing his skills, technique and intelligence, as well as his toughness, aggressiveness and power.
8. Pascal’s chin is not the best
Pascal’s chin has always been suspect and the Froch fight did not allay the doubts over his chin resistance, because, frankly, Pascal managed to slip, roll under or parry most of Froch’s telegraphed big shots. When Froch did manage to land, he clearly buzzed Pascal, forcing the latter to grab him by the waist or hips, bending down horizontally, his head tucked to Froch’s side, spinning Froch around. This allowed Pascal to clear his head whilst avoiding further shots from Froch. Because he was being spun round, Froch could not plant his feet to deploy his uppercut either. Froch is not an inside fighter and he did not try to take advantage of Pascal inside either, waiting instead for the referee to break them up. In the late rounds, however, Pascal had to have his wits about him and clinch a lot to stay upright under Froch’s powerful punches.
9. Diaconu is not a huge puncher
Fortunately for Pascal, Diaconu’s power is overrated; Diaconu himself has been overrating and overrelied on his power far too much for far too long, looking to close the show in dramatic fashion. Because he uses up too much energy trying to force a KO, he typically runs on an empty tank in the late rounds. Fortunately, before this fight, however, Diaconu made it clear that he has finally realised he can no longer rely on his power to win him fights.
10. Pascal has the right attributes and style to beat Diaconu, but Diaconu is a good finisher and he can stop Pascal
Pascal is a fast, athletically gifted fighter with underrated power. His movement and reactions are very good and he is a committed, precise and effective puncher. When he is healthy, relaxed and confident, he throws beautiful, fast combinations from all sorts of angles and is hard to hit. At times, during fights, he looks unbeatable. Will he be able to concentrate sufficiently to cut out the technical mistakes that have let him down so far? Will he be able to follow his game-plan without straying? If so, he has a great chance catching the judges’ eye to outpoint Diaconu.
“The Shark”, however, is good at spotting and exploiting his opponents’ weaknesses. Once he has them hurt, he zeroes in for the kill and doesn’t hold back. As a finisher, Diaconu shouldn’t be underestimated. Not only is he faster than Froch, for example, but due to his style and lower height, he is a more effective inside fighter and finisher. Against Diaconu, Pascal will find it much harder to grab and clinch once buzzed. If Pascal doesn’t stay fully focussed throughout, Diaconu will take full advantage. Whether Pascal is tough and cunning enough to survive, we will have to wait to see.
Both fighters are desperate to prove their critics wrong and make a name for themselves on Friday night. Will Diaconu’s stamina hold out? Will Pascal’s chin be able to take Diaconu’s punches? Will Diaconu’s pride get the better of him? Will Pascal be mentally strong enough to survive Diaconu? Neither fighter has been as well-prepared before as they are this time around. They both made it clear that for the very first time, they have no excuses not to perform at their best. Diaconu vs. Pascal has all the hallmarks of a mouth-watering, explosive clash that should not be missed. My prediction? Boxing fans will not be disappointed!