White hot Super-Middlewight prospect Jean Pascal retained his NABF title by Unanimous decision. Before fighting Ikeke, Pascal was a relatively unproven fighter. With his covincing victory Pascal showed that he is the complete package.  Sportsbook.com had Juan Pascal as a heavy favorite at -800 odds in the boxing match.
The early rounds were competitive with Kingsley landing some sharp jabs and effective counters. Ikeke was outworking Pascal early but Jean was landing the more telling punches. Kingsley Ikeke was game all night giving a 100% effort but Pascal displayed super fast hands with his combinations to the head and body that scored with regularity.
Ikeke was unable to use his 6'4" height effectively against the slick defense of Pascal who slipped, rolled and ducked most of Ikeke's slower punches. In rounds 7, 8, 9, Pascal rocketed some shots off Ikeke's head but couldn't put the tough Nigerian on the canvas as Kingsley showed a good chin.
Pascal is a decent puncher no question, but he has a tendency to slap with his left hook ocasionally. In round 11 Ikeke had his best round of the night scoring nicely with some clean punches. in the last round Pascal was picking his spots outboxing Ikeke to close the show strongly.
"Pascal has been reported to have had his best raining camp to date in his brief 2 year career so he should be very sharp." Point-Spreads senior boxing expert Brad Marchetti stated before the bout. Marchetti felt that Pascal at -800 was a bit overvalued but after the fight had this to say: " Pascal has improved since I last saw him. He showed better defense than in the past. His timing, reflexes and handspeed are all top notch. After handling a quality veteran like Ikeke the way he did he must be considered a legit top10 guy."
