The return of former light heavyweight world champion Jean Pascal, who is exiting a brief retirement, has been postponed, promoter Yvon Michel said.
Pascal was scheduled to fight former UFC fighter and former North American Hockey League enforcer Steve Bosse in a 10-round cruiserweight boxing match in the main event of a card on June 29 at Place Bell in the Montreal suburb of Laval, Quebec, Pascal’s hometown.
But the card has been postponed until July 20 and will take place at the same venue.
Michel admitted to sluggish ticket sales and hoped to stoke more interest in the event thanks to a partnership with a new sponsor.
“We have a new partner in Olivier Primeau, owner of the Beachclub. We already talked about doing business together a short while ago when he hosted us and Floyd Mayweather at this venue. We considered it was the perfect occasion to do it,” Michel said. “He asked us a little more time to maximize the promotion of the event and we agreed.”
Michel and Primeau, whose Beachclub in Pointe-Calumet, Quebec, is the biggest outdoor club complex in North America and host to numerous electronic music concerts, hope to market the fight to a younger crowd.
“We are not here to do miracles, but to make sure boxing will be known by more people, to develop a younger crowd and a new clientele,” Primeau said.
Before Pascal knocked out Ahmed Elbiali in the sixth round on Dec. 8 in Hialeah, Florida, he said that he would retire, win, lose or draw. But his retirement did not last long and the fight with Bosse, for which Pascal will move up to cruiserweight, was put together last month.
Pascal (32-5-1, 19 KOs), 35, who is 3-3 in his past six bouts, said at the time that he ended his retirement because “I don’t want to have no regrets and that is why I came back. I take this fight very seriously. I am already in the gym and I will have a good training camp. I found back the love for my sport.”
Bosse was 12-2 with 9 knockouts in mixed martial arts, but he is a novice boxer. He made his pro debut on Feb. 15 with a second-round knockout victory against Julio Cuellar Cabrera in Montreal and is taking a big step up against Pascal in his second boxing match.