Badou Jack reveals ‘I want to fight the best guys’

Badou Jack (29-3-3, 17 KOs) wants to move on from fighting the likes of Noel Mikaelian (27-3, 12 KOs), but he will first have to emerge victorious in their rematch.

Their bout headlines a Bash Boxing card at the Ace*Mission Studios in Los Angeles, CA. Fight fans in the United States can catch the action live as a pay-per-view (PPV) through Integrated Sports Media, who will distribute it via all major cable outlets, DIRECTV, and DISH, as well as digital platforms including Amazon Prime Video, PPV.com, TrillerTV, and Fubo. The rest of the world will be able to do so through PPV.com.

Big Fight Weekend got to speak with Jack ahead of his Dec. 13 contest. Below is what he had to say.

Badou Jack speaks to Big Fight Weekend in exclusive interview ahead of Noel Mikaelian rematch

Badou Jack on his first fight against Noel Mikaelian

The first clash between the pair took place earlier this year in Saudi Arabia on the undercard of Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez vs. William Scull. Although one judge had the action a draw, the other two saw Jack winning 115-113. Although the reigning WBC cruiserweight champion believes the fight was close, he still thinks he did enough to win.

“It was a close fight,” said Jack. “But I thought I clearly won the fight. I was pushing the action. I was landing the cleaner shots. [Mikaelian] was throwing more, but it was pitty pat bullshit. I was landing more punches round by round. Maybe he threw more punches if you just look at the stats like that, but you got to look round by round. I was landing the cleaner punches.”

Mikaelian was not the original opponent for that night. Jack was initially scheduled to fight Ryan Rozicki. Mikaelian stepped in on less than a month’s notice when the Canadian suffered an injury and withdrew from the bout. Jack admits that this did impact training.

“It was three and a half weeks [notice],” he said. “I was preparing for another fight, but it was also in the end of Ramadan so it was really hard. So I had four and a half weeks [fight camp], he had three and a half weeks. But he was also preparing for another fight at the same time so he was ready. Who knows how he was training or not, but it’s not my problem. We’re professional fighters. For a fight like that, you can’t say no.”

Badou Jack on training for Noel Mikaelian and getting unification bouts

Jack claims that there are definitely differences between the two times he has prepared to fight Mikaelian.

“We had a longer camp. I definitely pushed myself a little harder and I’m excited to get back in the ring with him and prove I’m levels above him.”

He also says that although he wants to be in unification bouts, getting them is easier said then done. Jack would much rather be fighting bigger names for more money.

“I was calling out Jai Opetaia. Last year we did a face off in Saudi [Arabia]. They keep saying that people are ducking him. I ain’t ducking [him]. I been calling you out. Sometimes people are busy. People have mandatories. It’s hard sometimes. At least don’t spread false information. I want to fight. You can say whatever about [Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramírez]. Maybe he got better fights. I think [David] Benavidez might be a tougher fight than Opetaia for [Ramírez]. I could care less. Right now I’m focusing on [Mikaelian] and after that we’ll see. I would love to do the unifications. I don’t want to fight guys like Mikaelian. This is no money. This does nothing for my career. I want to fight the best guys.”

Badou Jack on what motivates him to keep on boxing

Jack made his professional boxing debut in 2009 and is now 42 years old. Despite that, the desire to become the best keeps him in the sport and he is determined to show Mikaelian what he is capable of with a proper training camp.

“I want to be the best. I want to become undisputed and [Mikaelian] is in my way right now. He saw maybe 30 per cent of what I can do. I was two and a half years out the ring. It was a comeback fight with a half training camp. But like I said, winners don’t make excuses. He’s the one with the excuses. This fight is going to be different.”

Jack recognizes that he is near the end of his career, but there are still things he wants to accomplish before calling it a day.

“I want to fight for the undisputed. I want to fight the other champions. It’s not like I have 10 more years in boxing. I don’t want to waste time on these bullshit mandatories and low level fights. I want to fight the best guys. Right now it’s Opetaia and Zurdo. Those are they guys I want to fight unless something major comes in. We’ll see.”