FORGET about letting the fight “marinate.” WBC World super middleweight champion Badou Jack (20-1-2, 12 KOs) wants to box IBF champion James DeGale(23-1, 14 KOs) before year’s end to prove to the world that he reigns supreme at 168 pounds.
“I want to be great,” said Jack to Boxing News. “I don’t like the new era of boxing where it’s just a business. I have an old school mentality. I want the best to fight the best. DeGale is one of the best in the division. Both of us are, so we’re supposed to fight each other to see who the best is.”
Jack, who hails from Stockholm, Sweden, but fights out of the Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas, captured the WBC super middleweight strap by pulling the upset on Anthony Dirrell in April of last year.
In his first defense of the title he defeated George Groves in front of 80,000 13,395 people at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, in the co-feature to Floyd Mayweather’s swan song against Andre Berto last September.
A majority draw with Lucian Bute then followed but the Canadian tested positive for a banned substance. The results for that fight have yet to be overturned by the DC commission so the blemish remains Jack’s his record.
Jack was the underdog in all three of those fights. It’s role that he has grown to embrace.
“It gives me more motivation to train even harder and to be successful,” Jack said. “I just want to be great. To be honest, I like being the underdog and I want to continue being the underdog for all of my fights and for the rest of my career, if I can. I have no problem with that.”
With just one Premier Boxing Champions card currently on the calendar, and rumors swirling that Haymon’s venture may be struggling financially, it remains to be seen if Jack and DeGale will face off before year’s end. Both fighters are advised by the enigmatic businessman.
“To be honest,” said Jack. “I’m letting Floyd and Leonard Ellerbe do their job. My job is to get ready. I’m training and, as soon as they get me a date, I’ll sign the contract. I’m just checking my phone every day. I’m waiting for them to call me and let me know the date.”
