FOLLOWING A FIERCE battle with James de Gale on Saturday, WBC super-middleweight champion Badou Jack lived to retain his title another day as their unification fight ended in a draw.
Both fighters felt that they had won, and there were almost immediate calls for a rematch.
Swedish native Jack has since however, been ordered to defend his title against the WBC’s number one-rated fighter Callum Smith.
Smith’s promoter Eddie Hearn — who also overlooks Katie Taylor — tweeted a picture of a letter from the WBC ordering the bout last night.
Meanwhile, Jack’s promoter Floyd Mayweather stated after the weekend’s fight that his fighter would move to light heavy-weight.
Both promoters now have until 17 February to come to a purse agreement.
With the likelihood that that Jack will vacate the title and move weights, Smith and Anthony Dirrell would be left to fight for the belt.
33-year-old Jack won the WBC title from Dirrell in 2015, and has lost just once in 24 contests.
Smith, who is trained by Manchester’s Joe Gallagher, has won all 22 of his fights — 17 of them by knockout.
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