Badou Jack Plots His Path To Success, One Career at a Time

By Lyle Fitzsimmons

Badou Jack has the fight he wanted.

The decorated former Olympian will meet the lineal king of the 175-pound division – hard-punching Canadian-based southpaw Adonis Stevenson – on May 19 in "Superman's" adopted Montreal backyard.

But while he concedes the imminent matchup could be career-defining in nature, the husband and soon-to-be father of two children is also focused on what'll happen long after the winner's hand is raised.

"We can't fight forever. I'm gonna be 35 in October. I'm not trying to plan on fighting when I'm really old," Jack said. "I started late and I'm kind of in my prime right now, even though I'm 34. I feel great. Right now, I'm gonna continue fighting. But when it goes down I'm gonna try to stop.

"I don't want to fight because I have to make money from fighting. I want to make as much money as possible right now and invest and do some smart business stuff outside of boxing."

Toward that end, he and business manager Amer Abdallah – himself a professional kick-boxing champion – will combine this week to launch Ripper Nutrition, a line of nutritional supplements that Jack said will begin with pre- and post-workout amino acids and ultimately include multi-vitamins and proteins.

Jack said he and Abdallah partnered with another company to get the project off the ground but insisted the two of them are the driving forces behind it. They are getting word out by providing product samples to fighters and others for whom peak physical fitness is a professional priority.

And it's his own commitment to conditioning that makes it a natural endeavor.

"I'm interested a little bit because I train. I take all my vitamin, proteins, minerals. I think that’s important," he said. "You learn more and more about a certain supplement by using it and seeing how it affects you. I just take vitamins, minerals, proteins and amino acids. That’s good for me."

The fight with Stevenson will be Jack's second since abandoning the WBC 168-pound title he'd won and defended three times between 2015 and 2017. He weighed 174 1/2 pounds for a five-round thrashing of Nathan Cleverly last August, but said he'd dropped nearly 30 pounds just to land at light heavyweight.

Yet another move to cruiserweight is on the long-term agenda, but Jack said he's "got some money to make" first -- a mindset that's prompted him to assemble a team that includes a personal chef, strength/conditioning coach Larry Wade and famed nutritionist Mackie Shilstone alongside trainer Lou Del Valle, himself a former title claimant at 175.

He's in what he called "pre-camp" training now but will begin earnest preparation in late March.

"My weight is pretty good right now. I feel good. I wish the fight was sooner," he said. "I fought in August. I could have fought in December again, but the fight is in May so that's all good with me. I've been training for months and months, so I will definitely be ready."

Stevenson, who turned 40 in September, has scored six knockouts in eight defenses of the WBC title he won with a first-round erasure of Chad Dawson in June 2013.

He's No. 1 in the division according to the Independent World Boxing Rankings – one slot ahead of former multi-belt champ Sergey Kovalev and three in front of Jack.

"I won't say it's like a coming-out party because I've already proven myself," Jack said. "I've fought five world champions in my last five fights. But he's a great champion. He's an underrated boxer and because people don’t like him they say he's been cherry-picking. He's a talented fighter. That’s the reason I wanted to fight him. Not just because he a big name. He's a big puncher and he's a good fighter."
 
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This week's title-fight schedule
 
WEDNESDAY

WBA super bantamweight title – Tokyo, Japan
Daniel Roman (champion/No. 8 IWBR) vs. Ryo Matsumoto (No. 11 WBA/No. 12 IWBR)
Roman (23-2-1, 9 KO): First title fight; Scored ninth-round TKOs in two career 12-round fights
Matsumoto (21-1, 19 KO): First title fight; Eleven straight wins by stoppage (43 total rounds)
Fitzbitz says: The challenger has had a good run of early wins against inferior opposition and he's got the homeland advantage here as well. Call it a hunch, but that works well enough for me. Matsumoto in 7

THURSDAY

IBF junior featherweight title – Tokyo, Japan
Ryosuke Iwasa (champion/No. 4 IWBR) vs. Ernesto Saulong (No. 13 IBF/Unranked IWBR)
Iwasa (24-2, 16 KO): First title defense; Five straight wins since 2015 (5-0, 4 KO)
Saulong (21-2-1, 8 KO): First title fight; Lost only scheduled 12-round fight (2015, UD 12)
Fitzbitz says: Iwasa is probably on the second tier when it comes to champions at 118 pounds and a bout here against a foe not really deserving of a title fight here won't move the needle. Iwasa by decision

WBC bantamweight title – Tokyo, Japan
Luis Nery (champion/No. 1 IWBR) vs. Shinsuke Yamanaka (No. 1 WBC/No. 2 IWBR)
Nery (25-0, 19 KO): First title defense; Won title from Yamanaka in August 2017 (TKO 4)
Yamanaka (27-1-2, 19 KO): Fifteenth title fight (13-1); Held WBC belt from 2011 to 2017 (12 defenses)
Fitzbitz says: Yamanaka is the beaten ex-champion and more than a decade older than his conqueror, but I'll nonetheless believe he's the better man until I see him lose again. Yamanaka in 10

SATURDAY

IBO cruiserweight title – Kempton Park, South Africa
Kevin Lerena (champion/No. 7 IWBR) vs. Dmytro Kucher (No. 16 IBO/Unranked IWBR)
Lerena (19-1, 9 KO): First title defense; Unbeaten in eight fights since 2014 (8-0, 2 KO)
Kucher (24-2-1, 18 KO): Second title fight (0-1); First fight in South Africa (eighth country)
Fitzbitz says: Lerena is no one's idea of a pound-for-pound king or even the best in his weight class, but he's a solid champion and in a match here that should help elevate the profile. Lerena by decision

WBA light heavyweight title – New York, New York
Dmitry Bivol (champion/No. 13 IWBR) vs. Sullivan Barrera (No. 1 WBA/No. 5 IWBR)
Bivol (12-0, 10 KO): Second title defense; KOs in all four 2017 fights (13 total rounds)
Barrera (21-1, 14 KO): First title fight; Third scheduled 12-round fight (1-1, 1 KO)
Fitzbitz says: Barrera may be the more complete commodity at this stage, but Bivol has more upward mobility and should show it when the two intersect. On to bigger things. Bivol by decision

WBC heavyweight title – Brooklyn, New York
Deontay Wilder (champion/No. 3 IWBR) vs. Luis Ortiz (No. 3 WBC/No. 5 IWBR)
Wilder (39-0, 38 KO): Seventh title defense; Averaged 7.16 rounds in six defenses (43 total rounds)
Ortiz (28-0, 24 KO): First title fight; Two KOs in two previous fights in New York (10 total rounds)
Fitzbitz says: Wilder is young and intense. Ortiz is perceived as having more skills. But I expected to see something more in Ortiz's eyes during a recent confrontation. I didn't. That tipped it. Wilder in 6

WBO light heavyweight title – New York, New York
Sergey Kovalev (champion/No. 2 IWBR) vs. Igor Mikhalkin (No. 4 WBO/No. 12 IWBR)
Kovalev (31-2-1, 27 KO): First title defense; Previously held IBF/WBA/WBA titles
Mikhalkin (21-1, 9 KO): Third title fight (2-0); Held IBO title at 175 (2017, one defense)
Fitzbitz says: "Krusher" is nearing 35 and probably not the monster he was pre-Ward, but this ought to be little more than a highlight opportunity to set up the next big match. Kovalev in 8

Last week's picks: 1-2 (WIN: Nietes; LOSS: Viloria, Estrada)
2018 picks record: 15-3 (83.3 percent)
Overall picks record: 936-307 (75.3 percent)
 
NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.
 
Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.