How Badou Jack Bounced Back to Become the Other Face of Mayweather Promotions

Go ahead and accept a round of applause.

Because if—even as Badou Jack reeled from the onslaught of one Derek Edwards—you still viewed him as a potential elite in the super middleweight division, you’re a soothsayer of the highest magnitude.

The unbeaten Swede was headed toward a 168-pound title eliminator three years ago when he collided with Edwards' right hand, tumbled to the canvas twice and was rescued by referee Charlie Fitch while stumbling drunkenly along the ropes, just feet from the lap of his promotional company’s czar.

The loss wound up as an honorable mention candidate for BoxingScene.com's 2014’s Upset of the Year. And it wasn’t hard to find fans and media types scurrying toward the prospect’s bandwagon exit.

But that czar, while slack-jawed at the surprising result, stood by his man without hesitation.

And the counsel he offered in the aftermath laid the foundation for an impressive career rebuild.

"A true champion can bounce back from a loss," Floyd Mayweather Jr. told Bleacher Report.

"As long as you stay focused and surround yourself with a good team, it all works out. I told him to keep his head up, stay focused and to trust that he would bounce back and become champion."

Mary Altaffer/Associated Press

Mayweather, retired for more than a year these days, is the full-time president of Mayweather Promotions, which will co-promote Jack’s Saturday night duel with Englishman James DeGale at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, that should unify the WBC and IBF championships at super middleweight.

Jack topped unbeaten Anthony Dirrell for the WBC belt just three fights and 14 months after the Edwards disappointment, and he’s since defended twice on the way to meeting DeGale, who defeated another Dirrell brother—Andre—to win the IBF crown he’s successfully risked twice since May 2015.

DeGale is the opponent Jack was set to meet in the elimination bout scuttled by the Edwards disaster, and Mayweather said it’s his client’s drive that allowed him to regain professional footing.

"He carries himself like a professional at all times. He has very unique skills, and he has a great work ethic," Mayweather said. "He's definitely a more complete fighter.

"Badou is very comfortable now. Everything in his life is going the way it's supposed to go. He's putting in the hard work and has dedicated himself to his craft."

The high-profile boss even suggested Jack’s re-ascension has made him "the face of Mayweather Promotions," though that label will remain with Money until he stops intermittently teasing about comebacks or Jack becomes a legit pound-for-pound commodity…whichever comes first.

For his part, the fighter believes a victory over DeGale—a gold medalist at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the first United Kingdom native to parlay that status into a post-amateur world title—will provide the ideal propulsion for a jump to more lucrative possibilities at light heavyweight.

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

"We’ve already proved that me and (DeGale) are the two best guys (at 168), and now we’re going to see who’s the No. 1," Jack told Bleacher Report. "There’s really nobody that’s a big name or a big-money fight or somebody that’s a top guy after that. So I think it’s time to move up to the next weight class. That’s where all the big names and the big-money fights are. Absolutely.

"I’ve got a tough fight ahead of me, and it’s one fight at a time, but after that we go to 175. The future is definitely at 175."

The numbers folks at OddsShark are a little less gaga about Jack’s chances—having installed DeGale as a solid favorite—but the underdog insists when he looks at his foe, who’s an inch shorter albeit with a one-inch reach advantage, he’s not overwhelmed.

"Obviously, (DeGale has) done something right to become Olympic gold medalist and become a professional world champion," Jack said. "I know he’s very talented. He moves well. He’s a very athletic guy. But we’ve got a game plan, and I’m not worried about him.

"It’s a unification fight. Two champions fighting each other and for The Ring magazine title. So, yeah, it’s the biggest fight. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be the toughest fight."

A one-division rise would follow a blueprint most recently drawn by Andre Ward, who ruled the super middleweight roost before claiming a handful of light heavyweight belts with a November defeat of Sergey Kovalev. Ward is one inch shorter and would have a two-inch reach disadvantage against Jack, while the other most highly regarded title claimant at 175—Adonis Stevenson—is another alumnus of the 168-pound ranks and stands just 5'11", though his reach is 77 inches.

Jack, 6'1", said the struggle to make 168 pounds is becoming too difficult and conceded to swelling to as much as 195 between fights. In fact, he enlisted the help of famed nutritionist Mackie Shilstone to make sure this week’s weigh-in is free of drama.

"I went down to New Orleans to do some tests, since my weight was pretty high. He helped me with nutrition and a meal plan and supplements and stuff," Jack said. "I’ve been on this meal plan for six months now, almost, so I’m craving some carbs. When you do it for a long time, you want all the fast food and all the good stuff. After the fight I’m going to eat good."

Meanwhile, on the sidelines, Mayweather looks forward to sharing in the celebratory banquet.

"All he has to do is [go] out there, stay focused and listen to his corner," Mayweather said. "I'm very confident that Badou will become unified champion."