Combat

Pascal, Hopkins Fight at Press Conference

There is a lot of drama building up to the May 21 Bernard Hopkins-Jean Pascal rematch. The fight last December ended in a draw and now fight fans are eager to see on of the fighters get a victory. The drama got upped a notch after the two fighters got into a physical altercation during a press conference in Montreal today.

Michael Woods from thesweetscience.com describe it this way:

Standing on the stage, mike in hand, shouting, with Hopkins five feet away, grinning, Pascal ranted, "The fans are asking are you willing to take the test. Are you willing to take the test?" He was referring to testing for illegal performance enhancers above and beyond what the Canadian commission calls for. The mood wasn't overly heated, as Hopkins smiled and Pascal had a tiny hint of a grin on his face. But as Pascal moved towards Hopkins, and screamed, "Are you willing to take the test?" again, Hopkins, patience exhausted, put down a folder he was carrying, and shoved Pascal back a few feet, into his promoter, Yvon Michel.
Props to Pascal, he wasn't put off.
"Are you willing to take the test?" he continued to rant. "Not for me, for the fans!"
"You're scared," Hopkins countered. Pascal then swatted him with his right hand, and Hopkins swatted back with his left. Neither blow was meaningful. Hopkins tried to get at Pascal, who kept on screaming about the test, but order was restored, by and large, as Pascal continued his rant.
"Cheater," Pascal screamed as he was led outside.
Pascal continued the beef with ESPN's Dan Rafael on Twitter afterwards.
To be continued in New York on Tuesday...

In February Hopkins accused Pascal of not representing Haiti.

Source: The Sweet Science