Badou Jack returns to the ring for the first time since suffering a gruesome gash to his forehead in January, and a unanimous decision loss to Marcus Browne, to get another opportunity to put himself back into the light heavyweight picture.
Standing in Jack’s (22-2-3, 13 KOs) way Saturday on Showtime will be Jean Pascal (34-6-1, 20 KOs) in Atlanta’s State Farm Arena. Pascal is the fighter who stopped Browne in August to win the WBA title, all while reclaiming some of the luster back on his resume at the age of 37.
“I want to get my title back and be on top,” Jack told BoxingScene.com in an interview. “Jean is a veteran and tough guy with a lot of experience, but he has a lot of mileage on him too. He looked good in his last fight, though. He comes to fight. That’s what I like. He’s not going to run. He’s not going to hold. He’s a real fighter. I’m excited.”
The 36-year-old Swedish-born Gambian fighter has an uneven record over his last four fights, going 1-1-2. Jack, a former two-division champion originally discovered by heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs, knows a title-clinching performance can land him back into the light heavyweight fold for bigger fights in 2020.
“I don’t take Pascal lightly,” Jack continued. “Our styles mesh well and fit together. It should be a great fight. All of my focus is on Pascal. I’m taking it one fight at a time before seeing who’s next. I have a great team behind me, and I’m motivated more than ever.”
Jack said he’s fully recovered from the vertical cut sustained between his eyes that required 25 stitches immediately after losing the WBA light heavyweight title to Browne — the strap that Pascal now possesses.
“I started slow against Marcus Browne. I was flat in that fight. I made some mistakes after the weigh-in,” said Jack. “Obviously I got cut too, and it was hard to fight. But I sucked it up and fought.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist and member of the Boxing Writers Assn. of America since 2011. He has written for the likes of the Guardian, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Men’s Health and NFL.com and currently does TV commentary for combat sports programming that airs on Fox Sports and hosts his own radio show in Los Angeles. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan or via email at manouk.akopyan@gmail.com.