Great stoppage if i ever saw one. Heck Pascal was out of it completely when Kovalev slipped. He even got some extra time to recover from that but Pabon saw he was in no state after those 2 last shots made him drop his hands.
Pascal was done... Sergeis gestures said it all... it was like 'do I really have to go finish this guy off?'
was a tad premature if im honest Rematch is needed unless the Stevenson fight can be made Pascal can fight Chilemba to face the winner
Pascal is renowned for his poor stamina. He looked spent before the heavy shots landed. Based on past performances, i think the ref made a good call. I don't think Pascal will suffer any lasting effects from last night, had he eaten another 30 heavy shots whilst exhausted, it could of been more serious. Stoppage was justified imo.
I voted yes but it wasnt really a bad stoppage, I thought it was just unusual how he done it , pascal should have gotten a count before it.
He was clearly hurt and staggering across the ring and while he had fought back from the previous knockdown his punches were not hurting Kovalev. Pascal was not going to win, he was behind, taking a lot of punches and didn't seem to have the power to turn it around even when he was landing. So the ending was fine, Pascal is the kind of fighter who is too brave for their own good, he was never going to quit, he needed to be saved from himself. Even though he lost, he still had success in the 5th and 6th rounds and would still be seen as a viable opponent for Stevenson so we'll see him again.
Not at all Pascal was in bad shape and on his way out. Aside from the fact that he was clearly badly hurt and had taken too many flush punches of a thunderous puncher and was on very unsteady wobbly legs in the corner after the attack when Kovalev slipped, he was in no position to defend himself properly when the referee waved it back on. The sequence of shots Kovalev belabored him with that lead to him getting sent reeling into the ropes (just prior to when Kovalev slipped) was brutal. Kovalev was on the rampage and Pascal had taken a pounding and was only another punch or two from getting bludgeoned to the canvas for good, IMO. Even if he somehow managed to remain vertical after getting clocked with more than that there was a lot of time left in the round and the end was inevitable.
Of course. And he should have. Fights should go to their natural conclusion, like they did back in the mid-20th century. Refs stop fights WAAAY too soon these days.