By Geno McGahee
Jean Pascal, 35-6-1, 20 KO’s, retained his WBA light heavyweight gold with a split decision over Badou Jack, 21-3-4, 13 KO’s, by scores of 114-112 (twice) and 112-114, in a very close and debatable fight.
From the opening bell, Pascal came on strong, sweeping the early rounds. He would be losing the fourth round but would land a right hand at the end and drop Jack hard. He got up and Jack began to take control of the fight. Jack’s body work and straight punches began to tell the story and the tide shifted down the stretch.
In the final round, Jack evened the score when he knocked down Pascal with a right hand. He came on strong and almost had Pascal out of there, but owned the last half of the fight, leading to boos from the audience when the decision was announced.
The fight could have gone either way. It seemed that Jack did enough to win, but the decision isn’t terrible.
