pascal vs syllakh?

WBC ordered Pascal-Sillakh bout not likely
By Dave Spencer / Fightnews Canada

With the ordered rematch between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson, former WBC light-heavyweight Jean Pascal finds himself as the odd man out in a triangle that has seen all three fighters wearing the green belt at one time or another. With Pascal (26-2-1 16KO) forced to take a backseat, the #3 ranked fighter in the division was ordered to face off against #2 ranked Ismayl Sillakh (17-0 14KO) for spot of mandatory challenger within the division by the WBC. Don’t look for the fight to happen anytime soon though as Pascal’s promoter will continue exploring more viable and lucrative options.

“It’s always a an honour to be selected for a title eliminator, it’s a good option for Jean,” said Michel before adding “The priority for Jean is to fight for the world championship and I’m not sure he really needs this because of his notoriety, the relationship we have with HBO, our negotiations that we already have ongoing for a potential championship fight, so I’m not sure we really need that (fight with Sillakh). If after free negotiations we realize that the best option is to fight Sillakh, then we will do it. It’s a difficult fight to sell.

“We would have fought Sillakh before; we were in negotiations with his promoter Square Ring for a comeback fight we wanted to make for Jean but unfortunately HBO told us then that Sillakh was not an HBO fighter. If we look at Sillakh’s record, he never fought or beat anybody in the top 20 in the world. If you look at Jean Pascal’s resume, his last eight opponents are still world ranked in top ten or world champions. For sure the notoriety of both fighters are different. If we realize that this is our best option to get to a world championship, then we will do it.”

Michel looks to be banking that the ordered rematch between Hopkins and Dawson is not yet etched in stone. “The wording makes an exception if both parties come to an agreement and allows Hopkins to make a voluntary defense first,” said Michel. “We’ll see what that means but if they do fight there is an understanding with Gary Shaw and Dawson that after Hopkins, he wants to fight Jean Pascal. So if he beats Hopkins, then we might fight against him directly. Before making a decision with Jean, we have to see if and when a fight between those happens and make our decision accordingly.”

Figure on Pascal possibly coming back in March and the challenging for a title shot in late spring or early summer according to the promoter figuring that the mandatory route might take up to two years with and ordered rematch because potentially surrounded by two optional defenses. “We hope Sillakh continues to fight and improves his resume in that time so we can somehow make it a viable fight for the future,” said Michel.

MAKE IT HAPPEN

It looks like it won't. I hate the whole, he needs to fight the guys I beat to prove he's ready argument. Ward's pulling that which I hate (although I have no problem with him taking a mandatory after the Super 6). Now Pascal's pulling it too.

This fight won't get made. Pascal will end up sitting out for a while and then maybe fighting Kelly Pavlik.

Team Sillakh: Jean Pascal Backs Out From WBC Eliminator

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Undefeated NABF light heavyweight champion Ismayl “The Black Russian” Sillakh, (17-0, 14 KOs), the World Boxing Council’s No.2 contender, has just been notified that he now stands by himself among the top three.

Former WBC champion Jean Pascal was ordered to fight a “final eliminator” with Sillakh
at the WBC convention and his promoter Yvon Michel accepted the order and personally
told Sillakh that they would fight. The winner would become the “mandatory challenger” for the winner of the Bernard Hopkins vs. Chad Dawson rematch.

“I thought that the negotiations for the fight were going good. Yvon told me that they were going to do it and Showtime was interested. But I got a call on Wednesday from Yvon that Pascal has decided not to fight Sillakh, basically that Sillakh was just too young and too dangerous,” said Square Ring’s CEO John Wirt. “That’s the second time that Pascal has pulled out of agreed to elimination bouts.

“Don’t forget that other contenders who had agreed also pulled out when it was a four-contender tournament,” Wirt continued. “Also refusing to fight Sillakh were Zsolt Erdei and Chris Henry. We think we have the greatest light heavyweight on the planet, and they must think so too because they all keep refusing to fight him.”

The 27-year old Sillakh, who now makes his home Southern California, was born in the Ukraine. The rangy boxer-puncher just wants to fight for the title.

“I don’t care who they put in front of me,” Sillakh exclaimed. “I’m starting to feel a little lonely here. I know my promoters asked for a purse bid, but Pascal pulled out rather than face me. I hope the WBC will consider naming me the mandatory because all of the other contenders abandoned their opportunity.”

http://tinyurl.com/6mcfwfm

You called it Gumby