JEAN PASCAL W12 ADRIAN DIACONU

The most courageous performance not just of the weekend but maybe of the year was the one given by Jean Pascal in winning a unanimous 12-round decision over Romanian-born Quebec rival Adrian Diaconu in their rematch for the WBC light-heavyweight title.

Pascal fought through the pain of an injury to his right shoulder and fired off combinations to dominate the last two rounds, just when it looked as if Diaconu might have a real chance of salvaging a lost cause.

The crowd at the Bell Centre in Montreal and viewers watching live on Canadian and Romanian TV saw a fight every bit as compelling as the first one between the two boxers in this arena in June.

Again, Pascal won with superior speed and skill, but Diaconu was a diehard aggressor in every round. There were rounds when Diaconu was outworking Pascal and he even seemed to be taking over the fight at times. Pascal kept blazing back, though, with the sort of eye-catching, hurtful combinations that turn a losing round into a winning one.

Pascal seemed to be having trouble with his right shoulder early in the fight, and when he turned away in distress late in round 10, his right arm dangling by his side, it looked as if he was on the brink of surrender. The bell to end the round brought a reprieve, however, and Pascal showed the grit and tenacity of a true warrior to come back and regain the initiative. Diaconu was unhappy about the decision, with all three judges making Pascal a wide winner, but his battered and swollen face was testimony to Pascal’s heavier artillery.

The drama of the closing rounds and Pascal’s toughness and heart made this one of those fights that will be talked about for years to come by those who saw it — truly a contest to live in the memory.