Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins are set to meet for a rematch of their December 18th draw on May 21st. The boxers had their pre-fight press conference on Monday and did exactly what a pre-fight conference is supposed to do — drum up interest in the show. An actual scuffle broke out between Pascal and Hopkins over Pascal suggesting Hopkins take a blood test to prove he was clean. Check out this video of their fight and let me know if you think it’s real or fake:
If you see B-Hop and Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy, you’ll see they’re both smiling and appear to be laughing. Maybe it’s a nervous laugh because they don’t know what’s going on, but fighting at a pre-fight press conference is the oldest promotional strategy around. Many writers seem to buy it thinking that the Hopkins’ anti-Canada viewpoint is fueling the feud (Pascal is from Canada and their two fights are in Quebec).
I certainly am not buying it. Not only is this a classic promotional move, but if Pascal were really concerned about Hopkins’ legitimacy he would have put the blood test stipulations into their contract, not drummed it up now. What do you think?
