By GM Ross: In Montreal, Quebec, on May 21, Bernard Hopkins once again overcame father time, defeating Ring Magazine champ Jean Pascal in a rematch via unanimous decision. Their first meeting was deemed a majority draw, but a large percentage of boxing fandom scored it in Hopkins’ favor. With the win Hopkins claims the WBC and Ring Magazine titles, becoming the oldest man to reign as champion of the world. Hopkins refused to pay the IBO’s sanctioning fee, making that portion of Pascal’s crown vacant.
On the Pascal-Hopkins undercard, Chad Dawson scored a wide unanimous decision victory over Adrian Diaconu (27-2-0) in the light heavyweight division, 117-111, 118-110, 116-112. With the victory Dawson moves to 30-1-0.
Rising stars Mikael Zewski and Kevin Bizier also added victories to their records in Montreal. In the light middleweight division, Zewski (9-0-0), of Trois-Rivières, Quebec, won via third round knockout over Ruben Galvan (27-16-4) of Hammond, Indiana. Bizier (14-0-0) took on Mauro Lucero (46-14-1) in the welterweight division, dispatching the Mexican veteran in the fifth of a scheduled eight rounds.
In other action, Nicholson Poulard (16-3-0) earned a decision over Frankie Santos (17-9-4) of Salinas, Puerto Rico; Oscar Rivas (5-0-0) needed one round to knockout out Zsolt Zathureczky (3-0-0) of Budapest, Hungary; Didier Bence (1-0-0) stopped Dwayne Storey of Moncton, New Brunswick in two; Eleider Alvarez (4-0-0) earned a unanimous decision over David Whittom (11-14-1).
On May 20, in Chicago, Illinois, hometown fighter Andrzej Fonfara (17-2-0) claimed the vacant NABO light heavyweight title, knocking out Kitchener, Ontario’s, Anthony “the Rowdy One” Russell (13-2-1) in the process. Fonfara dropped Russell in round two, maintaining a clear advantage from that point on. The end came in the sixth, when Fonfara trapped Russell on the ropes and administered a nasty left hook upstairs, leaving Russell out on his feet. Fonfara continued his attack until Russell hit the canvas, at which point Fonfara was declared the victor by knockout.
Interbox has arranged a night of professional boxing for Friday, May 27, at the Levis Arena in Levis, Quebec. Headlining the card will be Canadian heavyweight prospect Eric Martel Bahoeli (6-0-0) of Quebec City. His opponent will be Andriy Ivanov (5-6-0) of Vinitza, Ukraine.