This past Friday noche up at “Oh Canada” country of Montreal, those fight fans in attendance and us watching over the magic lantern, were treated to a action l/heavy title fight with WBC champion Adrian Diaconu facing challenger Jean Pascal. 

Diaconu entered unblemished at 26-0 with 15 coming via knockout, while the Pascal rap sheet saw him at 22-1 with 15 by stoppage - and to his credit, round after round Diaconu would walk into the slicker, and quicker handed Pascal fire power. 

Early on, Pascal was content in piling up points with the height and reach advantage while working in the stick, move and counter mode - then, with Diaconu on the offense in stanza five, a Pascal counter left hook finds the mark and the Romanian transplant is down. 

From that point on Pascal kept Diaconu honest, as he picked up the pace with moves in and out of the proverbial book with knockout on the mind - but, Diaconu continued marching to the sound of the drummer boy. 

Wasn’t until late in the skirmish that Diaconu managed to be more successful, with Pascal taking numbers ten and twelve off. 

Still, Pascal would claim the night - scoring went unanimous 115-112, 115-112, 115-111. 

My unofficial had it Pascal 8-4 in rounds and 116-111 in points. 

Post Scripts:

• Jean Pascal ( 23-1, 15 KOs) ~ age 26 - this, my first peek at the Haitian to Canada transplant. Circle the name - maybe not the best of all the 175 pound shareholders out there, but if unification comes, he qualifies.    

• Adrian Diaconu (26-1, 15 KOs) ~ age 31 never entered into the outcome. He went the distance with plenty enough in the tank - tough cookie but lacks technique. This one was all about skill besting one dimensional. To put it another way; Major league vs. Triple A.  

Referee report card: Marlon Wright: Still stuck on himself - plays to the camera - too visible for my $2.00. 

Fight commentators: Barry Tompkins an old pro - would fit nicely in working HBO. His Versus Channel sidekick doing color, Wally Matthews, runs a poor second.