The Premier Boxing Champions and Showtime are at the D.C. Armory in Washington tonight (Saturday, April 30th), with a full night of boxing topped by two world title fights in the Super Middleweight division. WBC Titleholder Badou Jack (20-1-1) will be defending his title against former long-time world champion Lucien Bute (32-3). Right now Jack is a -400 favorite over Bute, who is returning at +325. There is no over/under posted for the bout. Bute is not coming to this fight to lose. He returned last November for a world title fight and he came up short when he faced James DeGale. That loss however, re-invigorated his career because at 36 years old he made a much better showing of it than many expected, with many observers giving him at least a draw. That performance earned Bute a second straight world title shot, and in Jack he is facing a fighter who is much improved in his recent performances. For his part, Jack entered the title fight where he defeated Andre Dirrell for the belt as an underdog, and his title defense against England’s George Groves gave him a hard fight under his belt in his first defense. Jack is still considered to be rising, whereas Bute, despite recent good performances, is thought to be at the end of his title days. DeGale holds the IBF title, and he comes in a much wider (-3000) favorite over challenger Rogelio Medina, who is returning at +1500. Medina is 36-6 over all a solid veteran, but DeGale (22-1) is a former Olympic gold medalist who is coming off a successful title defense on the road against Bute. DeGale is from England, but he won his belt in the United States back in May of 2015 when he defeated Andre Dirrell. Choosing to fight on the road outside of Britain is something DeGale perhaps is not getting enough credit for, since many British “champions” opt to not fight on the road. Medina is a hard working veteran with a lot of fights, and that includes a December of 2013 loss to Badou Jack. Floyd Mayweather Jr attended the press conference that announced this fight back in early April and both him and promoter Leonard Ellerbe offered that the winners of the match would be scheduled to meet in a “unification” bout between super middleweight champions.
