Badou Jack, center, reacts after a fight with Lucian Bute, second from left, early Sunday, May 1, 2016, in Washington. The match ended in a draw. AP
WASHINGTON — Although Badou Jack didn’t get the decisive victory he was looking for Saturday night, he’s still planning on a unification bout with James DeGale next.
Jack still holds his WBC super middleweight belt after fighting to a majority draw against veteran Lucian Bute.
READ: Jack retains super middleweight title with draw, DeGale awaits
DeGale defended his 168-pound IBF title earlier Saturday with a unanimous decision over Rogelio Medina at the DC Armory.
The idea for the dual Showtime card was to have the winners square off this summer or fall. Without that victory, Jack is still ready.
“Of course I want DeGale,” Jack said. “I’m ready in September, ready in August. I’m ready whenever.”
Judge Stephen Rados scored the fight 117-111 for Jack (20-1-2). Omar Minton and Glen Crocker both scored it 114-114.
Jack had won four fights in a row heading into his second title defense, and believed he should’ve won a fifth.
“It is what it is,” Jack said. “Maybe I lost the last round. He’s a great guy and a great champion, but I know I won the fight.”
Jack’s promoter and former champion Floyd Mayweather also decried the decision.
“We want to be treated fair,” Mayweather said. “We need to get some new judges, because this is not right for the sport of boxing.”
The Romanian-born Bute (32-3-1), a former 168-pound champion, had lost to the British DeGale in his previous bout and appeared to think he had suffered defeat here.
Bute opened the 12th round swinging, and did so again following a timeout with 55 seconds left to fix tape on Jack’s right glove. As the final bell sounded, Jack raised his hands in anticipation of victory while Bute only turned and headed to his corner.
“Believe me, it was very close fight,” the 36-year-old Bute insisted. “My last fight with DeGale was very close, tonight was a very close fight. I showed everyone I’m still at the top.”
After cautious opening exchanges, Jack came to life in the fifth, landing several blows clean, including a long, looping left hook with under 50 seconds left in the round.
A similar connection to start the 11th commenced on of the fight’s liveliest rounds, one that ended with a section of Romanian fans chanting “Bu-te!, Bu-te!”
DeGale (23-1) survived Medina (36-7), who out-punched him by an almost 2-1 margin despite connecting on fewer overall.
DeGale’s most memorable sequence may have come in the sixth round, when he connected clean on all three punches of a left-right-left hook combination.
“I’m a bit disappointed,” DeGale said. “I should be taking out people like Porky Medina, no disrespect to him.”