Jean Pascal Lives to Fight Another Day; Upsets Fanlong Meng

Jean Pascal is a tough old bird as he proved again tonight by turning away previously undefeated Fanlong Meng in a 12-round light heavyweight contest at the White Sands Events Center in the Tampa Bay community of Plant City, Florida.

Things looked bleak for Pascal early on. In round two, he was rocked by a hard left that had him looking like a man who is out on feet. But the wily Pascal, fighting in spurts to conserve his energy, came on strong at the end and won the battle in the eyes of all three judges: 114-113, 115-112, and a way too wide 116-111.

Fanlong Meng, five years younger than Pascal at age thirty-four, came in undefeated (17-0, 10 KOs) and ranked #1 by the IBF. A former Olympian, Meng had bouts fall out with Artur Beterbiev and Sergey Kovalev during the Covid era – cancellations that were not his fault – and was the sentimental and actual favorite over Pascal, the French Canadian via Haiti, who sat out all of 2021 after testing positive for FOUR banned substances preceding his scheduled rematch with Badou Jack.

During a career that began in 2005, Jean Pascal (36-6-1, 20 KOs) has answered the bell for 333 rounds. His best moment tonight came late in round nine when he scored the bout’s lone knockdown. His triumph (somewhat controversial) was his third straight in an underdog role following an upset of previously undefeated Marcus Browne (TD 8) and then Badou Jack (SD 12).

Last Chances

The “Last Chance” junior welterweight tournament, an 8-man competition consisting of four 8-round bouts, preceded the main event.

Thirty-six-year-old Zhimin Wang of Wuhan, China, returned to the professional ranks after a nearly four-year absence and came out on the short end of a unanimous decision vs. Joseph Fernandez of nearby Saint Petersburg, Florida. The scorecards read 77-75 and 78-74 twice.

The fight started slow but evolved into an entertaining skirmish. Fernandez advanced to 15-4-3. Wang declined to 11-4.

San Antonio’s Kendo Castaneda revived his career with a smashing first-round TKO over Toledo’s Sonny Frederickson. Late in the second minute of the contest, Castanada (18-5, 9 KOs) nailed Frederickson with a left hook. Frederickson went down hard and the fight was waived off  as he was struggling to his feet. The official time was 2:02.

A FedEx warehouse worker, Castaneda (19-5, 9 KOs) halted a five-fight losing streak. It was the fifth straight loss for Frederickson (21-6).

Castaneda moves on to the semifinal to oppose Joseph Fernandez.

Midland, Texas native Michael Dutchover advanced to 16-2 with a well-earned split decision over Adam Booth (21-5). The 34-year-old Booth, a stablemate of Joseph Fernandez, had won six straight coming in but against shabby opposition.

In the “Last Chance” opener, Mexico City’s Antonio Moran improved to 27-5-1 with a unanimous decision over Philadelphia’s Jeffrey Torres (10-2). The scorecards read 79-73, which was excessive, and 77-75 twice.

Moran meets Dutchover in the next round.

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