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Badou Jack and James DeGale are on a collision course, but first, they’re going to face separate opponents on the same card.
Jack will put his WBC super middleweight belt on the line vs. Lucian Bute in the main event of a Showtime-televised card on April 30 (10 p.m. ET) from a site to be determined. DeGale will defend his IBF super middleweight title against mandatory challenge Rogelio Medina in the co-feature.
Showtime Sports boss Stephen Espinoza told USA TODAY Sports that the winners have agreed to face each other on the network before the end of the year. Jack and DeGale are the favorites, but contracts are being finalized with language that the winners head immediately to a 168-pound unification bout.
Both Bute and Medina are replacement opponents. Jack and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. were in talks, but the son of a legend injured his foot and is on the sideline. Medina steps in for Jose Uzcategui, who is ill.
Jack-Bute figures to be better than the original bout. Bute, a former super middleweight champ, pushed DeGale to the limit in November and proved he isn’t washed up. Medina, whoever, isn’t a worthy challenger, though it’s a mandatory so DeGale had little choice.
Medina (36-6, 30 KOs) was knocked out by Jack in 2013 and also owns losses to middling fighters like Marcos Reyes and Jonathan Gonzalez.
DeGale (22-1, 14 KOs) should have no problem dispatching him. The 30-year-old became the first Olympic gold medalist from England to win a world title when he beat Andre Dirrell in May.
Jack (20-1-1, 12 KOs) didn’t seem like anything special, but improved in a big way with a breakout 2015 campaign. The 32-year-old Swede beat Anthony Dirrell (Andre’s brother) to win the title in April and then defended it successfully against George Groves (who handed DeGale his only loss) in September.
For Bute (32-3, 25 KOs), it’s a title-shot well-earned. But it’s also probably the last chance for the 36-year-old Canadian.
If all goes according to best laid plans, we’ll get a mouth-watering matchup between Jack and DeGale in the fall.
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Jack will put his WBC super middleweight belt on the line vs. Lucian Bute in the main event of a Showtime-televised card on April 30 (10 p.m. ET) from a site to be determined. DeGale will defend his IBF super middleweight title against mandatory challenge Rogelio Medina in the co-feature.
Showtime Sports boss Stephen Espinoza told USA TODAY Sports that the winners have agreed to face each other on the network before the end of the year. Jack and DeGale are the favorites, but contracts are being finalized with language that the winners head immediately to a 168-pound unification bout.
Both Bute and Medina are replacement opponents. Jack and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. were in talks, but the son of a legend injured his foot and is on the sideline. Medina steps in for Jose Uzcategui, who is ill.
Jack-Bute figures to be better than the original bout. Bute, a former super middleweight champ, pushed DeGale to the limit in November and proved he isn’t washed up. Medina, whoever, isn’t a worthy challenger, though it’s a mandatory so DeGale had little choice.
Medina (36-6, 30 KOs) was knocked out by Jack in 2013 and also owns losses to middling fighters like Marcos Reyes and Jonathan Gonzalez.
DeGale (22-1, 14 KOs) should have no problem dispatching him. The 30-year-old became the first Olympic gold medalist from England to win a world title when he beat Andre Dirrell in May.
Jack (20-1-1, 12 KOs) didn’t seem like anything special, but improved in a big way with a breakout 2015 campaign. The 32-year-old Swede beat Anthony Dirrell (Andre’s brother) to win the title in April and then defended it successfully against George Groves (who handed DeGale his only loss) in September.
For Bute (32-3, 25 KOs), it’s a title-shot well-earned. But it’s also probably the last chance for the 36-year-old Canadian.
If all goes according to best laid plans, we’ll get a mouth-watering matchup between Jack and DeGale in the fall.
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