Badou Jack vacated his super middleweight world title Wednesday, four days after he slugged it out with James DeGale in an action-packed unification fight that was ruled a majority draw.
Jack and DeGale met to unify their 168-pound world titles but fought to a dead heat on Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, in a fight in which both men got knocked down, Jack in the first round and DeGale in the 12th.
After the bout, Jack and promoter Floyd Mayweather said all along the intention was for Jack to unify the titles against DeGale and them move up to light heavyweight because of how difficult it had become for him to make weight.
On Wednesday, Jack (20-1-3, 12 KOs) followed through as he relinquished his title. He won the belt in by majority decision against Anthony Dirrell in April 2015 and made three successful defenses, two of which ended in a draw.
Jack outpointed England's George Groves by split decision in September 2015 in Las Vegas on the Mayweather-Berto undercard for his first defense. His second defense, in April in Washington, D.C., ended in a majority draw against former super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute in a fight in which he was heavily favored. Montreal's Bute tested positive for a banned substance after the fight, and the result is expected to be changed to a no-decision eventually.
Then came the majority draw against England's DeGale (23-1-1, 14 KOs) in a fight two judges scored 113-113 while one had it 114-112 for DeGale.
"The WBC has received official notification from WBC super middleweight champion Badou Jack, who has decided to move up in weight and compete in the light heavyweight division," the WBC said in a statement. "Consequently, the super middleweight championship of the world has been declared vacant. The WBC is extremely proud of Badou Jack, who is our Ambassador of Good Will and Peace. He has been a role model outside the ring with his exemplary behavior and his beautiful family, his wife Jasmine, and his baby daughter, Malaniyah.
"The WBC wishes Badou Jack continuous success and the best of luck in his boxing career, hoping that one day he will compete for the light heavyweight championship of the world."
The WBC is likely to order mandatory challenger Callum Smith (22-0, 17 KOs), 26, of England, to face Dirrell (30-1-1, 24 KOs), 32, of Flint, Michigan, for the vacant belt.
As for Sweden's Jack, 33, who lives in Las Vegas, his aim is to challenge Montreal's Adonis Stevenson (28-1, 23 KOs) for the light heavyweight world championship. Stevenson, 39, is likely to make a defense on April 29.
Mayweather said after Jack-DeGale that he would like to try to put together a Stevenson-Jack fight for late June.
"We looking forward to a Badou Jack and an Adonis Stevenson fightin'," Mayweather said at the news conference after the fight with DeGale. "We gonna make that fight happen. We're not worried about that because at Mayweather Promotions we can make anything happen."
That's the fight Jack said he wants.
"I never want to be remembered as a cherry-picker," Jack said. "Give me the best guys. If I win, I win. If I lose, I lose. I want to be tested. I want the challenges. I want the big-money fights. I don't care who's in front of me. Anyone. ... Yeah, I'm ready to fight [Stevenson]."