This is why I like Jean Pascal.

Here is the translation of an excellent article about Jean Pascal as a fighter and a person (sorry for any mistake):

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/sports/au...0-jean-pascal-a-la-poursuite-de-ses-reves.php

Part 1
​

This content is protected

​

(Miami) Nearly three months after his victory against Chad Dawson, Jean Pascal is getting ready these days in Florida for his WBC 175 lbs championship bout against the legendary Bernard Hopkins on December 18 in Quebec. A hard, demanding training made for a man who is ready for everything to realize his dreams.

Tropical Park, South of Miami Airport. It's raining nails. A warm rain that soaks but doesn't give shivers. At the end of the 400 meters track, three men are running at a good pace. Near the parking lot, both feet in a puddle, Marc Ramsay is whistling with two fingers in his mouth.

The three men stop and start doing shadow boxing. Jabs, hooks, uppercuts, dodging, the complete knowledge of these boxers is displayed for about thirty seconds. Then, Ramsay is whistling one more time and a new sprint begins.

Running in front of us, Jean Pascal tells me with a smile: " We won't give you all our secrets. " And he goes for another 400 meters while the heavyweight Odlanier Solis, a promising prospect from Cuba, has difficulties following him.

It's raining and Jean Pascal will continue his 400 meters sprints, only punctuated by shadow boxing sessions.

Fortunately, I brought an umbrella. But Marc Ramsay, captain of the squadron surrounding Jean Pascal, is totally wet. Same thing for Pedro Luis Diaz, a physical education doctor who works with Pascal and the other GYM boxers. He was the trainer Teofilo Stevenson (the great heavyweight never defeated in the Olympics) and the rest of the extraordinary Cuban boxing team. He has the same job as André Kulesza, also a physical education doctor who helps Lucian Bute and Adrian Diaconu. Both come from a communist regime that valued sport.

Diaz is jogging along the track and is giving orders in a curious mix of Spanish, French and English. Pascal replies in a similar way. Everybody understands: " basically, we speak the language of boxing, it's universal ", later said Jean Pascal.

Right now, Pascal does not have time to discuss or answer my questions. He is doing something I've ever seen in my entire career.

Arms outstretched, he's twirling very fast, like a top. Thirty seconds on one side, then he enters a circle formed by cones and he starts shadow boxing. You'd be throwing up your guts. Then he starts twirling in the opposite direction to accustom the two hemispheres of the brain to adapt. At the end of the training camp, Jean Pascal will do it for a whole minute... to follow up with a sparring partner: " he will be able to react after a second. His brain has learned to control the dizziness caused by the rotations ", said Ramsay.
​

 

Part 2

I remember that in the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida, Jean Pascal got clocked in the fourth round by Omar Pittman. He was totally confused for about twenty seconds, an eternity in boxing. In his next fight, the same situation happened again. Someone had to fix the problem. Pedro Diaz did just that. " The first time you make the top and taste your own vomit, you're stunned, told me Jean Pascal later. A few weeks later, you can twirl for a minute and a second or two later, you're able to react in the ring to protect yourself and make decisions. "

In the eleventh round of their recent clash, Chad Dawson landed a wicked uppercut on his chin. He hesitated for a second, he decided to protect himself, he stepped back a little, but within seconds he was ready to resume the violence of a boxing match. Ramsay is convinced it was the due to this special training.

The more one spends time with team Pascal, the more one realizes that GYM surrounds its jewel as well as InterBox does it with Lucian Bute: " boxing has evolved a lot. One man could no longer be sufficient for this huge task. I am more a team leader than a coach ", said Marc Ramsay. "Pedro trained an unbelievable number of world champions in the amateurs. And he now trains professional boxing champions. I will go pick our nutritionist at the airport in a few hours. Our psychologist is already with us, and we will do everything possible so that Jean is at his all-time best, both physically and psychologically. "

One can feel that there is an unspoken competition between team Bute and team Pascal. Arriving at the house rented for the training camp in Coconut Grove, South of Miami, I noticed that it's the same environment in Florida that Bute uses: " we came to train in Florida long before Lucian Bute ", Ramsay replied.

Later on, Jean Pascal asked many questions about the lucrative contract Lucian Bute is about to sign with Showtime: " welcome to the American League! " Pascal was referring to a statement of Bute's clan that they preferred HBO to Showtime. It was like the NHL vs the American League.

Sooner or later, Lucian Bute and Jean Pascal will meet in the same ring: "I think it won't happen before 2012. It's always what I thought ", he said.

After two hours of training, Pascal takes a shower before enjoying breakfast. He has three hours of respite since the second workout in the gym is scheduled for 1 pm. It will be followed by the main meal of the day before heading back for the gym for the third time, until 7pm. A routine that would destroy a normal man. But Jean Pascal loves training. And one must admit that with his powerful muscles and his extremely low fat rate, he trully is a force of nature. He eats more than Lucian Bute but has no problem staying at about 185 pounds between bouts. Making weight at 174.9 lbs 24 hours before the fight is not a concern.

During his shower, the psychologist speaks wholeheartedly of Pascal: " This man's goals change constantly. It's easy to work with him. When he became world champion, his objective changed. He wanted to be the best of his division. It's done since he won the Ring Magazine belt in August. Now he wants to be the best P4P fighter in the world. After that, it will be something else. I'm just making sure his confidence is as high as his objectives. He has a very strong personality, but he knows how to listen ", said the psychologist.

Let's talk about money. He has already received $1.4 million against Dawson and normally against a legend like Bernard Hopkins, his minimum purse of 1.5 million should easily reach 2.6 million and perhaps 3 million if he's lucky. He doesn't wear a zircon earring anymore: "diamonds, when they are high-quality, are both a splendor and an investment ", he said, smiling. He thinks all the time about the French Canadian society, Blacks' place in America, our planet's place in the vastness of the universe. Both down-to-earth and very thoughtful at the same time. In the same sentence, he tells me that he wants to invest in lands, in fields. Receiving advice, but taking his own decisions. It's his money, he is proud of having earned it and he is painfully aware that he was a gym rat for the last 15 years so that this mixture of muscle, courage and reflexes that he is could one day become the best of the profession.

But when he talks about boxing, his thinking goes further: "Boxing is like a Third World country. There some very rich individuals at the top, there are many poor people who have to choose which bills they'll pay at the end of the month and there are very few people in the middle. And in boxing, there is no guarantee. I was chatting with my friend Russell Martin of the LA Dodgers, the other day (they went to the same school). He was telling me that he's sure he'll get his 5 millions per year, whether he wins or not. If I lose, my millions disappear. But I know it and I give all I can give every time I step into the ring. That is one of the only things I control ", he said.

Who is Jean Pascal? " It's simple. I am a 28-year-old man. It was my birthday on October 28. I started to build my family with Angel, my little 7-year-old daughter (he his a single father). But that does not change my philosophy. I love Angel and I am a responsible father, but for 15 years, I've always put boxing before everything else in my life. Before family, before friends, before dating. It's a life choice I made and it is not hard at all. People are wrong when they say that I make sacrifices for my career. I don't make sacrifices. A sacrifice is when you kill a cow or a pig to get something. If rain still does not fall, you sacrifice a second pig because you're desperate. A life choice is conscious. I know that if I sleep well, if I eat well, if I live a clean life and if I'm training as best as I can, I will have more chances to win and to achieve my goals ", he said while devouring his lunch.

He concludes this discussion by adding: "My teacher in police operations at '' Collège d'Ahuntsic '', Robert Poëti, told me that luck was the talent of others. In other words, instead of recognizing your talent and your work, others prefer to talk about luck... "

This man is as happy as a human being can be. And he learned to appreciate what he does best: "After my victory against Chad Dawson, I was content, I was proud. I proved my point. And I love being right ", he said, smiling.

Still, there are some who find he has a big mouth...

"I love those who criticize, those who doubt. It motivates me even more when I can prove them wrong ", he said.

Obviously, it is more difficult to sell yourself when you're a Black in a White society. Jean Pascal went past the racism stage long ago. But he thinks. This guy thinks all the time: " Racism is ignorance. In any nation or any race, there are good and bad people. And if somehow there are Martians, there are good and bad Martians. Ignorance makes you judge everything based on differences. That's why it's important for me to be a good example and a model for my society. If I robbed a bank, the first thing that too many people would think is: "I knew it! He's Black." You know, there was the horrible slavery, but I should thank White people's ancestors because they forced us to work hard and they chose the strongest and biggest ones, that's why I have such a wonderful heredity ", he said with a laugh. Even now, I'm not sure if he was kidding or not.

When he starts talking about Big Brother, it's fascinating. GPS, cellulars, computers, these are all devices that enable the governments throughout the world to spy and control their citizens, according to him.

But it certainly does not prevent him from enjoying life and dreaming: " I like dreaming. I am a dreamer by nature. We must dream. No one will ever steal your dreams. Once you have a dream, you must plan to achieve it. And after, you make choices that can make it happen. But if there is no dream at the beginning, there is no plan, there is no choice and there is no result. Besides, people say that sky is the limit. That's not quite true. Guy Laliberté proved it already. The sky is not the limit, he went into space ", he said.

And in 10 years, what will be the dream?

" In 10 years, I will be 38. I hope to have two or three more children with a woman who will love me for the right reasons. At 38, that's what's most important ", he said after a while.

And by knowing him, Jean Pascal will be a free spirit. That also is important.
​

 

Indeed. This explains that.

 

Absolutely. It was brilliant.:good

 

What is not a conspiracy is that Doctor Shaw-High created HIV in the 50s to exterminate Africans, gays and junkies.:bart

 

The three at the same time!

No seriously, he was probably weight drained and he fought like a complete dumbass, going toe to toe with Froch for the first part of the fight and then getting tired and outjabbed by him (he didn't even listen to his trainer)!:-(

Anyway, that was kind of useful. He learnt a lot from this.

I hope to see the rematch!