Badou Jack was crowned the new WBC super-middleweight champion on Friday night, and he is setting his sights on a clash with George Groves next.
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Jack produced a shock in Chicago by defeating Anthony Dirrell, as he improved to 19-1-1 after earning a majority decision, succumbing his opponent to suffer his first professional defeat.
While the former champion immediately called for a rematch, Jack set his sights on an even bigger fight as mandatory challenger for the belt, George Groves, who was sat ringside looking on.
The Brit took to Instagram later in the night to congratulate the new champion, but insisted that he wouldn’t have long to enjoy the belt as he plans on defeating him in the coming months as he looks to push for a bout sooner rather than later.
Jack was thankful to ‘Premier Boxing Champions’ for giving him the platform to win a world title, and he was adamant that he never gave up hope of becoming a champion despite now being 31 years of age.
However, his message after the fight was simple. “I want George Groves next,” he said in his post-fight interview, as reported by Boxing Scene.
The WBC champion is likely to get his wish as negotiations are expected to start immediately, while Friday would have been a huge blow for the Dirrell camp as the elder of the two brothers, Andre, prepares for his title fight against James DeGale on May 23 in Boston.
Should Groves defeat Jack and DeGale go on and claim the vacant belt, the feuding British pair are expected to set up a rematch to unify the belts, but they won’t be looking that far ahead just yet.
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