Today’s Pascal-Hopkins press conference from Quebec City Hall
With Saturday’s Jean Pascal versus Bernard Hopkins fight on the horizon, I thought it best to relay some of the quotes from their press conference.
Jean Pascal should benefit from the hometown crowd. Photo from the people of Showtime
Quotes from the WBC/IBO Light Heavyweight Champ, Jean Pascal:
“Bernard Hopkins says the smartest guy will win. He says he is the intelligent man and I’m the idiot. After the fight, everyone will know who the dummy is.
“When I go to the states, you guys speak English. There’s no translation. Now you are in my country; you’re not at home. This is my territory; so in this town, we speak French.”
The wide-ranging quotes from the former two-division World Champion, Bernard Hopkins: “Enjoy the fight.”
Pascal’s Trainer Marc Ramsay added his two cents: “When the fight starts, you will see a jalopy on the other side of the ring and my powerful F-1 [Formula 1 race car] will run him over.”
Working as hard as ever, Bernard Hopkins is shown working the heavy bag at the Joe Hand Boxing Gym at 343 Third St. in center city Philadelphia. Photo provided by Showtime
Hopkins’ trainer, Naazim Richardson added: “We look forward to an outstanding show. As we were preparing for Pascal, a lot of people were giving me information about what to expect. I have been watching this man since he was an amateur coming up. He’s an outstanding athlete.
“As you watch my athlete [Hopkins], please give him his due respect. Understand his age and what he has accomplished and what he has been able to do for years. He is exceptional. Trust me, if he wasn’t prepared, I wouldn’t be here. The preparation will all come to fruition on Saturday.
“If Pascal dares to be great, he will have a phenomenal outcome in this show.”
The president of Groupe Yvon Michel, Yvon Michel added: “This event will be the most successful boxing event ever in Canada, financially speaking. Two months ago, Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins were like school chums. Now it looks like that’s finished. They’ve had warrior’s faces since they walked in here this morning. Dynasties have a beginning and an end. No matter what happens Saturday, this fight will have a colossal affect on the career and life of these two guys.
“Jean Pascal could have chosen anyone in his division, but he chose the riskiest, the most challenging. Jean is undoubtedly the most talented boxer in his division.”
Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions added:
“Yvon Michel took the lead in putting this great promotion together. Once Bernard wins, we can do the rematch in the United States and then we’ll show you what we can do. This is a global event. There will be tens of millions of people watching this fight from the beautiful city of Quebec.
“There is some great young talent on this card. Peter Quillin and Daniel Jacobs from New York and Mikael Zewski from Canada. Paulie Malignaggi will be on the card as well. Fans should arrive to the Pepsi Coliseum in time to see these great fighters.
“Nobody gave Bernard [Hopkins] a chance against Tito Trinidad. Nobody gave Bernard a chance against Oscar de la Hoya. Nobody gave him a chance against Antonio Tarver and nobody gave him a chance against Kelly Pavlik. He proved everyone wrong. He did it again and again and keeps doing it. Here he is, twenty-eight days shy of his 46th birthday. He is trying to rewrite history yet again. He’s going to prove everyone wrong. All of you out there, I give you one last piece of advice…never bet against this man.”
Chris Deblasio, Senior Director of Sports Communications, Showtime:
“Pascal vs. Hopkins is our last major boxing event of the year. This was originally slated as a pay-per-view event. But Showtime pulled some year-end resources together and worked with Yvon Michel and Richard Schaefer to move this telecast directly to our linear channel for the U.S. audience.”
