When is Jean Pascal vs. Michal Cieslak?

Jean Pascal vs. Michal Cieslak is on Saturday, June 28. The broadcast will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern Time (midnight BST).

Jean Pascal vs. Michael Cieslak is streaming on TrillerTV.

Where is Jean Pascal vs. Michal Cieslak?

The fight is taking place at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec, Canada.

Who is Jean Pascal?

This fight for the WBC’s interim cruiserweight title was originally supposed to feature Cieslak and Yamil Peralta. When that fight wasn’t made, the WBC instead sanctioned a bout between Cieslak, ranked fifth, and Pascal, who had been unrated before conveniently landing the 10th slot in the WBC’s May 12 update.

Pascal, 37-7-1 (21 KOs), is 42 years old, two decades into his professional career and well past his prime. He’s been around so long that he fought Brian Norman – Snr, that is – back when Brian Norman Jnr was seven years old. (To be fair, I am a few months older than Pascal.)

It’s been quite a career for Pascal, born in Haiti and long since a star in the Canadian province of Quebec. Soon after losing a decision to Carl Froch in a vacant super middleweight title fight in 2008, Pascal moved up to 175lbs and fought through an injured shoulder to capture the WBC light heavyweight belt from Adrian Diaconu in 2009. He then beat Chad Dawson in 2010 to become the new lineal champion.

Pascal’s reign as king didn’t last much longer. Bernard Hopkins held Pascal to a draw in December 2010 and then dethroned him via unanimous decision in their 2011 rematch. Pascal earned a win over fellow Quebecois headliner Lucian Bute in 2014 and suffered a pair of stoppage losses to Sergey Kovalev in 2015 and 2016. Decision defeats to Eleider Alvarez in 2017 and Dmitry Bivol in 2018 seemed to signify that his time as a contender was at an end.

But then came a pair of victories in 2019 that could have resurrected Pascal’s career: a technical decision over Marcus Browne to win a secondary WBA title and a split decision over Badou Jack to retain it. 

And then came a pair of big setbacks. The coronavirus pandemic put Pascal and much of the sport on the sideline. Several positive tests for performance-enhancing drugs kept Pascal out.

Pascal returned in May 2022, outpointing the previously undefeated Fanlong Meng. He lost to the unheralded 11-1 Michael Eifert in a March 2023 bout for which the IBF somehow deemed worthy of awarding a light heavyweight title shot to the winner (Eifert has yet to cash in on that shot). Pascal spent another 18 months away before taking on Terry Osias in September 2024. Both men came in at less than 190lbs, and Pascal knocked Osias out in the 10th and final round.

That, and a 2018 win over a mixed martial artist named Steve Bosse, is all Pascal has done in recent years at cruiserweight. It’s no wonder he wasn’t even in the WBC’s top 40, never mind its top 15, until he was available and there were sanctioning fees that the organization could cash in on. But perhaps he will turn back the clock against Cieslak the way that Hopkins twice did against Pascal.

And if he does? The WBC has called for the winner of Pascal-Cieslak to face Peralta, as well as mandating a rematch of Jack’s May majority decision over Noel Mikaelyan.

Who is Michal Cieslak?

Cieslak, 27-2 (21 KOs), is a 36-year-old from Poland who has twice challenged for cruiserweight titles. He landed his first shot after winning two fights in 2019 against Youri Kalenga (TKO7) and Olanrewaju Durodola (TKO2). With the vacant WBC cruiserweight belt on the line, Cieslak fell short against Ilunga Makabu in January 2020, losing a unanimous decision.

After two bounce-back wins, Cieslak got a second chance, losing to WBO titleholder Lawrence Okolie in February 2022. He’s since triumphed in six fights, all by knockout, including a three-round win over former light heavyweight contender Felix Valera last October.

What other fights are on the undercard of Jean Pascal vs. Michal Cieslak?

The undercard includes a cruiserweight fight between two aforementioned fighters: Browne (who lost to Pascal) and Durodola (who lost to Cieslak).

Browne, 25-2 (16 KOs), has fought just once since his knockout loss to Artur Beterbiev in December 2021. It’s been more than 22 months since Browne moved up to cruiser to widely outpoint the 13-1-1 Adrian Taylor in August 2023. He’s only 34 years old, so there may still be mileage left on Browne’s engine.

Durodola, meanwhile, is 44 years old with a record of 50-10 (44 KOs). There is a distinct pattern to the former contender’s career these days. Durodola will stay busy and beat a bunch of lesser opposition, then will take on a more familiar, more formidable name and suffer defeat. Durodola was last dispatched by cruiserweight contender Ryan Rozicki in just 107 seconds in December 2023. Seven wins have followed, the most recent coming in March, when Durodola sent the 8-2 Simon Olayinka packing after one round.

Also on this show, middleweight Patrice Volny, 19-2 (13 KOs), returns from his March decision loss to Austin “Ammo” Williams. Volny will face Mponda Kalunga, 11-2 (3 KOs).

can be seen on BoxRec.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter. David’s book, “,” is available on Amazon.