WBC light heavyweight boxers Jean Pascal and Aleksy Kuziemski face off during a news conference prior to their Friday night fight in Montreal on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012.Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press
Jean Pascal may be older and wiser, but it seems he is also heavier.
The former light heavyweight champion from Montreal missed the agreed upon 180-pound catch-weight for his 10-round non-title bout with Poland's Aleksy Kuziemski when he tipped the scale at 181.4 pounds at the weigh-in on Thursday.
Promoter Yvon Michel and Kuziemski's manager Robert Krzak quickly drew up a new contract that will allow the fight to go on Friday night at the Bell Centre. Pascal will not have to give up the 20 per cent of his purse that is the normal penalty for missing weight.
Neither side said what Kuziemski (23-4) got in return, but it is expected he will be invited to appear on another of Michel's fight cards in the future, perhaps against rising prospect Eleider Alvarez.
Pascal (26-2-1) will return to the ring after a 19-month layoff since the shattering loss of his WBC title to veteran Bernard Hopkins.
The 30-year-old said this week the experience gained from facing Hopkins has made him a better, more mature fighter.
He missed a weight that was set five pounds heavier than the normal light heavyweight limit of 175 pounds.