Former light heavyweight champion Badou Jack will soon step back in the ring against an undefeated contender.
According to a report from Ring TV, Jack and Marcus Browne have verbally agreed to a fight that would take place in early 2019 with the winner potentially being next in line for a light heavyweight title shot later in the year. Despite the two boxers agreeing to a fight, no fight date or venue has been set.
The report would go on to state that there are a number of scenarios being considered for the fight. One such possibility is to have the fight take place on the undercard of the planned January 2019 matchup between Manny Pacquiao and Adrien Broner. The other possibility would be to simply have the fight sometime next January and February with it likely landing on Showtime. The two sides are currently looking to hammer out a deal and iron out all the specifics.
The matchup would pit the top two 175-pound boxers in the WBA and WBC rankings, meaning the winner could potentially fight either the winner of the WBA title fight between Dmitry Bivol and Jean Pascal or the winner of the WBC title fight between Adonis Stevenson and Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Browne is also ranked as the No. 1 and No. 8 light heavyweight in the WBO and IBF rankings, respectively, while Jack is the WBO's No. 7 light heavyweight.
Jack has not fought since unsuccessfully challenging for Stevenson's WBC title in Canada back in May. The fight, which aired on Showtime, ended in a majority draw, meaning Stevenson got to keep his world title.
