Badou Jack vs. Lucian Bute: Recap, Scorecard and Reaction

Badou Jack retained his WBC Super Middleweight Championship on Saturday night against Lucian Bute in Washington, D.C., but it didn't come by victory. The judges ruled it a majority draw, with the final scores being 117-111, 114-114 and 114-114, per the Showtime broadcast.

After the fight, Jack was adamant that he had won, per Bad Left Hook (warning: contains NSFW language):

Dan Rafael of ESPN.com was not happy with the decision, either:

Despite being a draw, this was Jack's second successful title defense since he won the belt April 15, 2015, against Anthony Dirrell, who defeated Caleb Truax by technical knockout Friday. The next step for Jack appears to be a unification match between him and IBF super middleweight champion James Degale.

The two champions met in the ring after the fight to briefly discuss locations for the future match, and Degale also took to Twitter to ask Jack where the fight will be:

Saturday's fight began as a back-and-forth affair, as Jack and Bute were even at the start. Both landed plenty of shots and were active in the first two rounds. Jack made it a priority to attack the body early and often. Per the Showtime broadcast, Jack landed 103 body shots after 12 rounds, compared to Bute's 27.

However, Bute looked to be the more active fighter in Round 3. He started to display some power and connected with more shots to the chin. Rafael had Bute up 2-1 after the first quarter of the fight:

But as Sham Ayub of Be Real TV observed, the champion resembled a boxing legend in his approach to the fight:

After connecting with his elbow a couple of times in the early rounds, Jack was quicker at the point of attack. He landed a couple of combinations to the body and followed them with shots to the arm. Then, in the fifth round, he landed an overhand left hook that seemed to rock the challenger.

That power wasn't on display for the majority of the fight, and it turned out to be a bonus for Jack, per Greg Logan of Newsday:

Jack gained momentum after that fifth-round left hook. He started to connect with more hard right hands, and Bute looked slow to react. It showed with the number of punches Jack landed, per SHO Stats:

Premier Boxing Champions also noted Jack was landing a high number of power punches:

That was the theme for most of the night. Jack was quicker and more accurate as the fight went on, while Bute looked gassed by the seventh round, though the challenger made a push toward the end.

As it turned out, Bute's flurry in the last few rounds made a difference, though. Jack did not appear to let up, but Bute landed more punches and dodged more of Jack's shots.

There will be controversy regarding how the judges scored the fight, but the bottom line is that Jack retained the title with his second draw since 2013.

Whenever Degale and Jack meet in the ring, it would be a bout between two of the best boxers in the world. After defeating Rogelio Medina on Saturday, Degale has won his last 13 fights.

It would be fitting for the belts to be on the line, and Jack should have a chip on his shoulder because of Saturday's result.

Post-Fight Reaction

Jack wasn't the only one who didn't like the decision of the fight.

“We need new judges," Floyd Mayweather said, per Jim Dower of Boxing News 24. "We need an even playing field.”

Jack went as far as to say the judges who ruled it a draw should be suspended, per Rafael, but he knows the importance of what's in the future:

Whether or not Bute agrees or disagrees with the decision, he knows what he wants next.

"I need the winner of Jack and DeGale," Bute said, per Rafael.