Badou Jack, who was recently in the picture as far as who would be Canelo Alvarez’s next dance partner (Jack turning down the fight as he would have had to have dropped down to 180 pounds AND dealt with a rehydration clause), has now got himself a totally different fight. A quite surprising fight. As per a report from RingTV.com, Jack, the reigning WBC cruiserweight champ, will go up in weight to challenge WBC bridgerweight champion Lukasz Rozanski.
Reportedly, the fight will take place sometime before November 30th, with the winner having to face WBC bridgerweight mandatory challenger Keven Lerena, who took step-aside money to allow Rozanski to fight Jack. So, it seems Jack’s cruiserweight days could be over. The 39-year-old, who once ruled down at 168 pounds, defeated Ilunga Makabu in February, the stoppage win seeing “The Ripper” take the WBC 200-pound belt. Now, having not defended it, Jack will move up to bridgerweight, weight limit 224 pounds.
Jack, 28-3-3(17) has looked somewhat worn in some of his more recent fights, yet he looked pretty good in the exciting affair with Makabu. Jack has a lot more miles on the clock than Rozanski, and he will be going up in weight to face a dangerous if quite raw puncher. Rozanski, 15-0(14) and two years younger than Jack, has never gone past the fourth round in a fight, and if he is unable to get Jack out of there quickly when they rumble, he may find it heavy weather in the later rounds.
Jack, from Sweden, has boxed his last four fights in the Middle East, while Rozanksi of Poland has never before fought outside of his home country. The Jack fight will mark Rozanksi’s first title defence, the slugger having taken out fan-fave Alen Babic back in April, the quick win seeing Rozanski claim the vacant bridgerweight strap.
It could be a good, action-packed slugfest when Jack and Rozanksi rumble and it could prove to be Rozanski’s fight early and Jack’s fight late.
Who do YOU like in this one?