Badou Jack dismisses the prospect of facing former WBO champion Chris Billam-Smith

Hamburg – Badou Jack has dismissed a possible bout with recently-deposed WBO cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith.

Jack, in Hamburg to press his claims for a fight – as champion in recess – with current champion Noel Mikaelyan, 27-2 (12 KOs), Jack is then hoping to press on for a unification fight should IBF champion and WBO and WBA ruler Zurdo Ramirez meet later this year.

However, Chris Billam-Smith’s manager, Jake McGuigan, and promoter, Ben Shalom, are in Hamburg, and it is thought they will likely try to press their man’s claims for a favorable ranking with the WBC, if not a shot or an eliminator.

But regardless of what progress they make, Billam-Smith is not a fighter on Jack’s radar.

“Not really,” said the former super middleweight champion. “He’s not a champion and that’s the first time I’ve seen him fight [against Ramirez]. I don’t really know him like that. I’m looking for the big money fights and the unification fights.”

Jack is known to UK fans through fights with James DeGale and George Groves, but even so, the appeal of tapping into his history against British fighters is not a convincing enough sales pitch to make it make sense. 

“I don’t think that,” Jack said. “The money’s not really in the UK or the US anymore. It’s in the Middle East. But money talks. I’m not saying no to nobody. But coming out of a loss, he lost his belt, he’s not really a big name, so he don’t really bring nothing to the table.”

Jack has not fought since February 2023, but has hopes for a big year in 2025. Now 41, he says he will be ready to go early in the new year. 

“I’ve been inactive but I have a lot of experience,” said Jack. “I take care of my body and I’m always in the gym, so maybe it’s a good thing. I feel better now than when I was a super middleweight. I feel great.”