by David P. Greisman

When Jean Pascal announced in November that he'd hired Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, he said the move would bring a new perspective and would help him correct mistakes he'd made in his eighth-round technical knockout loss to Sergey Kovalev last March.

Pascal lost the rematch to the 175-pound titleholder this past Saturday; Roach stopped the bout after seven rounds out of concern that Pascal was taking too much punishment.

Kovalev afterward said his opponent's move to Roach didn’t show up with what Pascal brought to the ring.

"I don't think Freddie Roach changed him at all. He was actually easier for me,” Kovalev said. Later that night, he added: “For this fight, I didn’t feel something much better from Jean Pascal. First fight he was more dangerous. And this time he didn’t at all [bring] something new for me and something dangerous. I controlled all his movements. Everything was under my control. I felt like distance, everything felt good. I just hurt my hand in the third round when I broke his nose.”

John David Jackson, Kovalev’s trainer, said he wasn’t surprised that this version of Pascal paled in comparison to the one seen in March 2015.

“After the first fight I knew he wasn’t the same fighter for the second fight,” Jackson said. “That showed. So I knew he wouldn’t have much resistance as the rounds would begin to go on. The fight played out the way I thought it would play out. Sergey is a devastating puncher. It’s unreal. These guys can’t really take it. The body wasn’t made to take that kind of punishment. Pascal proved that. He was brave. But I guarantee when he wakes up tomorrow [Sunday] morning he’s gonna wish he got knocked out in the first round.”

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com