Badou Jack bows out of the Canelo sweepstakes denouncing unreasonable demands
Looks like Badou Jack will not be the next opponent for Canelo Alvarez.
Jack, the WBC world cruiserweight titleholder, announced on his social media account over the weekend he will pass on a high-profile fight against Alvarez, the current Ring magazine super middleweight champion.
There was talk of the fight taking place in the Middle East. Jack (28-3-3, 17 knockouts), who is originally from Stockholm, Sweden and lived and trained many years in Las Vegas, is now based out of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
“I won’t be fighting Canelo next,” stated Jack in the social media post. “They said the weight difference is too much, they wanted to drain the old man and fight me 20lbs UNDER the cruiserweight limit for the title .. Plus a rehydration clause. Canelo let’s give the fans what they want to see and fight David Benavidez.”
Twenty (20) pounds under the cruiserweight limit would have made the clash between Alvarez and Jack a catchweight fight of 180 pounds.
“For the record I agreed to 190lbs catch weight for my 200lbs title,” Back tweeted Monday afternoon.
Jack won the WBC title in his last bout on February 26, stopping Ilunga Junior Makabu in the ninth round. The 39-year-old has won his last six bouts since losing by split decision to Jean Pascal in December 2019. Jack would lose the WBA world light heavyweight title in that fight.
Alvarez is attempting to finalize an opponent, and if the Jack fight is no longer on the table, there is the possibility of Alvarez facing WBC world middleweight titleholder Jermall Charlo.
According to ESPN’s boxing writer Mike Coppinger, Alvarez and trainer/manager Eddy Reynoso traveled to Cleveland to meet with Al Haymon, who runs Premier Boxing Champions (PBC). Both Jermall and twin brother Ring magazine junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo fight under the PBC banner.
Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) last fought on May 6, near his hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico, dropping John Ryder once en route to a unanimous decision victory.
A rematch between Alvarez and WBA world light heavyweight titleholder Dmitry Bivol was also proposed to take place on the Mexican Independence Day holiday, but sides representing both fighters could not finalize a deal.
Benavidez, who is the WBC mandatory challenger, is reportedly facing unbeaten David Morrell in October and also fights under the PBC banner.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at santio89@yahoo.com
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