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BADOU JACK: "I PROVED ALREADY THAT I'M BETTER...I'M COMFORTABLE THAT I'M GOING TO BEAT DEGALE TOO"

By Percy Crawford | May 04, 2016
BADOU JACK:

"I told everybody; everybody thought that DeGale had the easy fight and I had the tough fight. I won more clearly against Bute than DeGale did against Medina. Styles make fights, but I'm comfortable that I'm going to beat DeGale too. It will not be easy. I think that's the difference between me and DeGale. I respect my opponents and he don't. He didn't respect Medina. I think he overlooked him just because I knocked him out," stated super middleweight champion Badou Jack, who talked about his latest win, his future plans, and more. Check it out!

PC: I know that's not the way you wanted to retain your title because it stripped you of a lot of weeks of hard work. When did you feel something wasn't going to be right?

BJ: I mean, when I heard 117-111 for Jack, my first thought was, "They can't give me a split decision win. That was a clear win." And then I hear 114-114 twice and it was like, "Damn, that's crazy!" It's all good though. Everybody saw what happened, so it's all good; even Bute knows. The WBC is not happy with it and they are going to do something about it. I don't know what's going to happen. I'll have to wait and see what's up. I still got my belt though.

PC: You guys seemed to show respect throughout the promotion and after the fight. He showed up to fight, just like you, so the decision was no fault of his. What was said between you two afterwards, if anything?

BJ: He's a class act. He's a gentleman, a lot like myself. I know his team very well. It's not his fault. It was no hard feelings; it's all good. We're cool!

PC: As the fight progressed, how did it feel to you?

BJ: I felt like I did my thing. Of course you always want to get the knockout, but a veteran like him, he's a very tough guy. It's not easy to knock out a guy like him. I hurt him a couple of times. I landed 61% of my power punches, so come on, a draw? I landed more than 100 punches more than him. It's a joke; crazy!

PC: You did some real good work to the body. Was that the game plan going in or did it present itself during the course of the fight?

BJ: That's my thing. That's what I do in all of my fights. It works good; I felt really strong. I struggled a little bit with making weight, but fight night, I felt strong. It's bad, we sacrifice our life in the ring, we train hard for months, and they screw you like that. I mean, I still got the belt, but that wasn't a draw. I should have gotten the win. It's not Bute's fault, like I said; he's cool. The only fight that could have been a draw on that card was the DeGale fight. That fight was closer than this one. I actually think my fight with George Groves was closer than this one. Even the haters...I wouldn't say that I have haters, but even the haters that hate Floyd and TMT had me winning the fight.

PC: So in your mind, there is no need for a rematch and you want to move on to the DeGale fight?

BJ: Of course. I proved already that I'm better than Bute. He's a good fighter, but I proved I'm better and now I'm ready to move on to James DeGale.

PC: It definitely looks like they are targeting that fight for the fall. Is that good timing for you?

BJ: Yeah, September I think. That's the plan, so now I'm just going to relax for a couple of weeks and then get back in the gym and work hard. It looks like he was in a very close fight. DeGale was landing the cleaner shots, but Medina threw a lot of punches. I told everybody; everybody thought that DeGale had the easy fight and I had the tough fight. I won more clearly against Bute than DeGale did against Medina. Styles make fights, but I'm comfortable that I'm going to beat DeGale too. It will not be easy. I think that's the difference between me and DeGale. I respect my opponents and he don't. He didn't respect Medina. I think he overlooked him just because I knocked him out. He's a tough guy.

PC: I know you don't plan on staying at 168 very long, but the top of the heap at 168 is very tough and we saw a lot of the top guys on display this past weekend, Friday and Saturday night.

BJ: I didn't see the Dirrell Brothers, but I heard they looked good. It's a good division with some young guys. I don't know how long I'm going to stay in the division, but at least we got the DeGale fight lined up and maybe one more. We'll see; maybe Triple G will move up as well. There are a lot of big fights to be made there.

PC: Was it the weight cut or because you felt you were comfortably ahead on the cards the reasoning behind slowing down in the 11th and 12th round? 

BJ: I don't want to say it was the weight cut. I made the weight. I came in at 167.5, but it took a long time to come down to 167.5. I was 185 on fight night or something like that. It was more like I got a little bored because it was easy. The last couple of rounds, I wanted the fight to be over with. I was a little tired, but I will admit maybe he won the last 2 rounds, but he didn't run over me and it certainly wasn't enough to warrant a draw. I think I won the 10th. He came on strong, but I hit him  with some good shots. In the 11th and 12th, it was his rounds.

PC: I know the work that goes into this and it sucked to see it unfold that way. Best of luck and I look forward to the DeGale fight. Is there anything else you would like to add before I let you go?

BJ: Thanks everybody for their support. There are a lot of people that showed me love and I appreciate them all.



[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]

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