As Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins were promoting their upcoming May 21st rematch yesterday during a press conference in Montreal, chaos erupted when Pascal stood up and began shouting at Hopkins, "Are you willing to take the test? Are you willing to take the test?" What he was referring to was some sort of drug testing to test for performance-enhancing drugs, likely something similar to the Olympic-style blood testing that Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley underwent for their 2010 fight. What ensued was a classic media scuffle that saw tempers flare for both fighters.
It began when Bernard decided that Pascal was being just too over the top for even him, so he stood up and shouted sarcastically, "Thanks y'all! Great press conference! See you in New York!" Hopkins said thank you a couple more times as he started to walk away, but Pascal thought it would be a good idea to put a hand on Benard's shoulder as he continued to obnoxiously repeat the same question. At that point, Bernard calmly set down a picture frame he was holding, turned around and gave Pascal a two-handed shove back into the promotional press backdrop.
From that point on, it pretty much went as most press conference scuffles do as everyone rushed between the fighters to prevent them from getting at each other. The only difference here was despite all the shoving and excitement, Jean Pascal never once put down the microphone. He continued shouting at Bernard, at one point even calling him a "cheat" before taking a swipe at him with his free hand. Naturally, Hopkins would retort with a quick swipe of his own before both fighters were ultimately separated.
Usually this is great stuff for promoting a fight, but in today's boxing environment, this is the kind of stuff that can end up in a lawsuit and keep a fight from happening altogether...just ask Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. It begs the question, is Pascal for real or is this just some ploy to get out of the fight? It also leaves me wondering if this heated exchange may escalate as the promotional tour continues. Either way, I look forward to seeing how this turns out, and I'm looking forward to the fight.
Here is a youtube video of the Montreal Press Conference from yesterday.