Andre Dirrell seeking light heavyweight clash with former Champion Badou Jack!
Fresh off of a third round knockout victory over Christopher Brooker, two-time super middleweight world title challenger Andre “The Matrix” Dirrell (28-3, 18KOs) has set his sights on much bigger and better opposition. In the immediate aftermath of his beat down of Brooker, Dirrell, who hadn’t fought in 19 months, called out Badou “The Ripper” Jack (24-3-3, 14KOs).
Jack, a two division world champion, has been identified by the Flint, Michigan native as a guy he wants to lock horns with. 3kingsboxing.com caught up with Dirrell, who would elaborate on why it’s Jack he wants to face next.
While heaping nothing but praise for the former champion, The Matrix made it clear, that’s the fight he wants next.
“Badou Jack, I really mean this from the bottom of my heart, he is a warrior, man. He’s going to bring a fight. If you get a victory with Badou Jack, it’s never going to be easy. When it comes to Andre Dirrell, nobody believes in me anymore,. That’s something I know, that’s something I understand. At the end of the day, I’m 37 years old going on 38. The only way I’m going to get that credibility is if I prove myself. That’s the only way, and who better than a guy other than Badou Jack. Literally, he’s going to give me everything, he’s going to put me on that pedestal, period. You know because he still is, he’s a warrior in every aspect, man.
He’s the ultimate test, and we’re both on the backend of our careers, and we have a little left, I have a lot more than people expect, but the winner of that fight gets to prove themselves a little bit more, you know what I’m saying. Badou Jack is definitely the one. I got mad respect for him. No animosity at all, nothing personal against him for beating my brother. You know I just want a fighter like that to be able to prove myself because people stop believing in me for so long, so it’s just important for me to get in there with a guy like him to gain that credibility back and move forward with my career and do what I need to do in this short period of time.”
This matchup has intrigue. With both fighters now 37 years old, the time to make another run at world title glory is now. The Matrix and The Ripper are both ranked in the top ten in the WBA at light heavyweight, a win would catapult them into bigger fights and a possible showdown with WBA champion Dmitry Bivol sometime in 2022. But first, Jack would have to decide whether or not he’s going to stay at light heavyweight or move up to cruiserweight. If he does the latter, the talk of this fight becomes irrelevant.
3kingsboxing.com will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they become available.
By: Jerrell Fletcher
