Badou Jack

Badou Jack (born 31 October 1983) is a Swedish professional boxer. He has held world titles in three weight classes, including the World Boxing Council (WBC) super-middleweight title from 2015 to 2017, the World Boxing Association (WBA) light-heavyweight title in 2017, and the WBC cruiserweight title twice between 2023 and 2025. As an amateur, he represented Gambia at the 2008 Olympics, reaching the first round of the middleweight bracket.

Early life

Jack was raised in Stockholm, where he was influenced by both Swedish culture and his Gambian heritage. He developed an interest in various athletic activities during his childhood, participating in several sports. However, boxing became his main focus.

Amateur career

Jack began his amateur boxing career in 2001 at the age of 18. He held a record of 150 wins and 25 losses. He won Sweden's national championship five years in a row, 2004–2008, 4 times at middleweight and once at light heavyweight. Jack boxed for Djurgårdens IF. In 2007, Jack was named the boxer of the year by the Swedish Boxing Federation. In his last national championship in 2008 he defeated fellow rising star Erik Skoglund in the finals. He represented Sweden at light-heavyweight before changing to Gambia, where he qualified for the 2008 Games.

At the 2nd AIBA African 2008 Olympic Qualifying Tournament he breezed through the competition to win; the final was a shutout win over DR Congo's Herry Saliku Biembe. Jack qualified for the 2008 Olympics for Gambia in the middleweight division, and was the nation's flag bearer at the Opening Ceremonies. He lost in the first round to India's Vijender Singh.

Professional career

Super middleweight

Early career

Jack started his professional career in his native Sweden where he won his debut fight by unanimous decision on 6 June 2009. His next four fights were contested in Sweden and Finland, with Jack winning each by KO/TKO, two in the first round.

Fighting in the United States

In 2009, Jack met former heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs at a Swedish boxing event, held in honor of the Swedish boxing legend Ingemar Johansson, where Jack was fighting and Briggs was brought in as a guest. Jack would later move to the United States in 2010 to train with Briggs and eventually sign with Lou DiBella and the Warrior Boxing Promotions in 2011, bringing his 5–0 record over to the states.

In 2011 and 2012 Jack would fight and win 6 times. 4 by TKO and 2 by decision. Including defeating Adam Collins by TKO on 16 December 2011 and a unanimous decision over 6 rounds (60–54, 59–55 and 58–56) over Grover Young on 7 March 2012.

The biggest win came against fellow undefeated, 17–0, prospect Alexander Brand on 11 May 2012 by and eight-round split decision 77–75, 77–75, and 75–77.

Mayweather Promotions

Following his success extending his record to 11–0, Jack was spotted by Floyd Mayweather in a sparring session in opposite Andre Dirrell. Mayweather was impressed and quickly signed Jack to Mayweather Promotions and to his team. On 2 February 2013 he defeated Jonel Tapia by knockout in the first round. Three weeks later he fought Don Mouton 23 February 2013 and won by unanimous decision (78–74 on all scorecards). On 4 May 2013 Jack took on Michael Gbenga and won by TKO from a body shot in round 3. Jack fought Farah Ennis on 19 July 2013. Jack won the fight by unanimous decision 100–90, 98–92, and 98–92.

In his first title fight, Jack challenged Marco Antonio Periban for the NABF super middleweight championship on 12 September 2013. After 10 rounds the fight was scored as a majority draw. In his next fight he took on Rogelio Medina on 6 December 2013. He won the fight by TKO after scoring 3 knockdowns in round 6.

On 28 February 2014 Jack fought Derek Edwards and lost for the first time after being stopped by TKO in the first round. Edwards knocked down Jack twice in first round after catching him with an overhand right counter. Prior to the loss, Jack had been in line for an elimination bout against James DeGale. The upset result was also a candidate for Upset of the Year in 2014.

Jack got back into the win column on 30 August 2014 when he fought Jason Escalera at the Palms Casino and Resort, Pearl Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada, and won by unanimous decision 100–90, 100–90, and 99–91.

Jack's next fight was due to take place on 12 December 2014 against Mexican boxer Francisco Sierra at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on the undercard of Erislandy Lara vs. Ishe Smith. Sierra gained 20 pounds between the weigh in and the opening bell, coming into the ring at 192 pounds. Jack dominated the fight from the start. The end came in round 6. Jack landed some combinations, which went unanswered by Sierra. The referee stopped the fight at 1:58 giving Jack the TKO win.

Jack vs. Dirrell

On 17 February 2015 it was announced that Jack would be challenging undefeated Anthony Dirrell (27–0–1, 22 KOs) for his WBC super middleweight championship. As a voluntary defence, Jack was given little chance, most thinking that he would be knocked out. Prior to the fight, Dirrell spoke to PBC about Jack being his next opponent, "[Jack is] nothing spectacular. He's just a fighter. I'm going to go in there and stick to my game plan, not rush anything and take it however it comes." The fight took place on 24 April at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. Jack upset the boxing world by defeating Dirrell via majority decision 116–112, 115–113, and 114–114, taking more and more control of the fight as it went on and exposing the champions inability to fight on the inside. After the fight, Jack said, "I was in great shape and I believed in myself. All that talk don't matter. I knew they couldn't rob me. I thought I clearly won. It was a tough start to my career, but now, I'm a world champ."

Jack vs. Groves

On 17 June 2015, it was announced that Jack would make his first defence against mandatory challenger George Groves (21–2, 16 KOs) on 22 August in Las Vegas. A venue hadn't been confirmed. This fight was Groves' third world title challenge, having lost back to back challenges against then world champion Carl Froch in 2013 and 2014 respectively. On 21 July, the fight was pushed back to instead take place on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Andre Berto on 12 September at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. There was no injuries as Showtime gave no reason as to why the fight was postponed. Jack was once again the underdog. Jack upset the odds again, defeating Groves. He dropped Groves in the first round and remained in control of the fight as it went on, making effective use of his body punches especially. He was victorious via split decision 115–112, 116–111, and 113–114. Groves felt as though he did enough to win and said, "Losing a world title fight is the worst feeling in the world." In October 2016, Jack admitted that Groves was the toughest opponent he had faced in his career so far.

Jack vs. Bute

Jack was set to defend his title next against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on 30 April 2016. However, Chavez Jr. would later withdraw from the bout due to an injury. He was replaced by Lucian Bute. Where the winner would go on to fight the winner of DeGale & Medina in the fall in a super middleweight unification bout. The fight was declared a majority draw 117–111, 114–114, and 114–114 and, as such, Jack retained the title. The draw was controversial since it appeared as Jack had done enough to be handed the victory by all of the judges. Most of the media scorecards also had Jack as the winner by 3-4 rounds. However, on 26 May 2016 it was revealed that Bute had tested positive for a banned substance in the post-fight drug test. The substance found in Bute's test was ostarine (also called enobosarm), which is a performance-enhancing drug, not an anabolic steroid but is still said to increase stamina and recovery ability and produce similar results that steroids would. It has been on the World Anti-Doping Agency banned list since 2008. On 24 April 2017, the DC commission changed the outcome of the fight to a DQ win in favor of Jack.

Jack vs. DeGale

Showtime Boxing confirmed that a unification fight between Jack and IBF world champion James DeGale (23–1, 14 KOs) was set for 14 January 2017. The fight was supposed to be announced for the fall of 2016, however it had taken a little longer for the negotiations to complete. The vacant Ring magazine title would also be at stake as well as the WBC and IBF titles. On 15 November, it was officially confirmed that the fight will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The first time both fighters would be fighting at the arena.