by Johnny Walker
The scheduled August 11 light-heavyweight championship fight between IBF champ Tavoris Cloud and challenger Jean Pascal, to be held at the Bell Centre in Montreal, appears to be on the verge of falling apart.
A scheduled Showtime teleconference call promoting the fight was cancelled today. According to Boxing Insider’s Hans Olson, Pascal is “definitely not fighting” on August 11. Pascal apparently suffered a hand injury during training camp.
An effort was made to rescue the card by substituting super middleweight knockout artist Adonis Stevenson–due to fight on the undercard in an IBF eliminator against Donovan George–for Pascal, but that idea has apparently been rebuffed by Cloud’s camp.
According to Gabriel Belland of La Presse, Cloud’s manager Al Bonanni said of fighting Stevenson, “We prepared for an orthodox, not a lefty. We said no.”
A tentative new date for Cloud vs Pascal is October 13 at the Bell Centre, a date which is also causing friction on the undercard.
According to Olson, “sources close to George’s side fear that one of the previously unavailable guys would get the shot [at Stevenson] if that fight moves to October.”
A press conference announcing the postponement is scheduled for Wednesday morning in Montreal.
UPDATE: Hans Olson is reporting that the October 13 rescheduled date will not work for Showtime, as a separate fight featuring Erislandy Lara is planned on that day.
