Russ Anber takes pride in Jean Pascal win
Taking his sweet time, Canadian notable boxing coach and trainer Russ Anber finally sat down today to spin his thoughts on last weekend's bout between Jean Pascal and Chad Dawson. Anber has been a boxing analyst for TSN since 1996, and he trains up-and-coming prospect David Lemieux. He worked as cut man for Pascal in the Dawson bout Saturday.
On his blog at TSN he wrote that the fight was a “history-making event,” and hoped that in writing he could “do it justice.”
He added: “To those of you who didn't see it, I urge you to get a copy and watch all the pageantry and excitement that the 10,000 strong brought to the atmosphere that reigned Saturday night. A 4-1 underdog, Pascal's performance left most, especially Dawson and his crew, shell-shocked.”
Anber was definitive in summing up: “An heroic achievement, Pascal impressed HBO with a win over the man many considered to be among the top 3-4 pound for pound fighters in the world.”
The facts are certainly true, and left little to dispute that Jean Pascal, the French-Canadian fighter born in Haiti, is the top light heavyweight in the world today. With the win, everyone from Bernard Hopkins to up-coming English prospect Nathan Cleverly to Carl Froch spoke up about wanting a piece of the champion.
Anber also had other titbits to add to critical analysis of the fight, speculating, for one, on the institution of a new rule in boxing. He claimed that in Pascal’s last two fights, both Dawson and Adrian Diaconu were buckled and fell forward, only to hold onto Pascal’s legs to avoid falling.
He feels this act ought to be penalized, and compared it to the knock-down that is generally ruled when fighters fall against the ropes.
Anber said: “It is common knowledge that if, in the referee's opinion, the ropes have held a fighter up, it shall be scored as a knockdown [...] in the event a fighter grabs his opponent by the leg or legs in order to clinch, that too should be scored a knockdown. In both of Pascal's last two title defences, both Diaconu and Dawson had their knees buckled badly by Pascal [...] they sagged downward, both grabbed Pascal's leg in order not to go down.”
Aside from this, Anber was clear to express his admiration for Dawson, but also the rudeness of his camp. Dawson is well known as a reserved fighter who, in a self-appraisal, lets his “fists do the talking in the ring.”
On the other hand, various rifts were experienced with Gary Shaw and Dawson’s entourage. At one point in the post-fight conference, Dawson’s wife even yelled at Jean Pascal, saying: “who are you? No one ever heard of you!” to which Pascal aptly countered: “well you should have done your homework, because you know who I am now.”
Most notably expressed by Anber was the pride he felt as a Canadian in scoring the victory over the American Dawson.
Emotions ran high as he acknowledged: “I was proud to be part of one of the greatest match-ups in this country's history. I was proud to be part of the boxing business in this country. I was proud that my city, my province and my country as a whole would be welcoming the American giants of our industry. I was proud to be part of the greatest win ever recorded by a Canadian, against the greatest opponent, on Canadian soil.”
Anber closed by referring to a Pierre Trudeau quote, who once said that living next to the States is like sleeping next to an Elephant. Anber picked up the metaphor: “Well every once in a while we are able to nudge the sleeping elephant, and when we do, the country as a whole should recognize the greatness of that achievement.”
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