Former WBA and WBC Champion Badou Jack claims Tito Ortiz removed himself from negotiations to fight him.
Jack is scheduled to compete on November 28. It’ll be on the same card as the exhibition showdown between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. Jack will go one-on-one with Blake McKernan inside the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. This will be a pro bout.
Speaking to Cole Shelton of BJPenn.com, Jack revealed that he was in talks to fight UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz, but the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” decided against it.
“At first, they were talking about me doing an exhibition boxing match against Tito Ortiz. I was like yeah sure and Ortiz wanted too much money and he didn’t want to fight me so it was scratched. Or, at least that is what I heard. It makes no sense to cut weight for an exhibition, so we then decided to find a cruiserweight and dedicated it to the charity and they found this guy.”
“That was mostly just talks. He is a little older and is retired so I’m not sure what happened. I don’t follow MMA and then they said it would be a real fight. I can’t fight an MMA fighter in a boxing match. Unless it is big money. Unless it a huge name and a big money fight then it makes sense. Why would I fight an MMA guy? That is no fair.”
Jack hasn’t won a bout since August 26, 2017. He has gone 0-2-1 in his last three outings. In his most recent fight, Jack dropped a split decision to Jean Pascal.
Ortiz hasn’t competed since December 7, 2019. He defeated former WWE star Alberto El Patron via rear-naked choke in the first round. Ortiz said he planned to keep holding off on retirement. Ortiz was recently elected to the Huntington Beach city council.