By Dan Ambrose: 2012 U.S Olympian Marcus Browne (23-0, 16 KOs) used his youth, speed and power advantage to pound out a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision win over former two division world champion Badou Jack (22-2-3, 13 KOs) to win the interim WBC WBA and the WBC silver 175 lb title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Browne had a point deducted in round 7 for holding. It was a lucky thing for Browne that he wasn’t disqualified for his constant clinching by referee Tony Weeks, seeing that it was impeding Jack from being able to fight. Browne was using the holding to keep from taking punishment. It worked, but it was clearly a situation needed more point deductions.
Jack suffered a bad cut to his forehead from a clash of heads with Browne halfway through the contest. The cut was so deep and wide that it was impossible for Jack’s corner to stop the bleeding. The blood dripped across Jack’s face the entire second half of the contest, making it difficult for him to see. The blood was everywhere, all over the referee Tony Weeks, and on the canvas. It’s a miracle that the fight wasn’t stopped at some point to protect Jack from blood loss.
The victory for the 28-year-old Browne makes him the mandatory challenger to World Boxing Council light heavyweight champion Oleksander Gvozdyk (16-0, 13 KOs). Whether Browne chooses to accept a title shot against the Top Rank promoted Gvzodyk is another question.
Jack had his best round in round 12, as he attacked Browne hard in landing some nice shots. But it was a case of too little, too late by that point. Jack needed a knockout, not just a round, but he wasn’t able to hurt Browne. He lacked the power, and he had taken so much punishment at the hands of the American.
The judges’ scores were 117-110, 116-111 and 119-108. Boxing News 24 had Browne winning by one-sided 119-108. It was hard to give Jack more than a round, considering that he was beaten to the punch the entire fight by the faster more agile Browne.
For Jack, he perhaps shouldn’t have taken a tough fight like this following his grueling 12 round war that he had against former WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson last May. That fight was scored a draw, but a lot of boxing fans thought Jack did enough to deserve the win. However, Jack took a lot of heavy shots from Stevenson the entire fight, especially in the first six rounds. Going from that fight into a match against the much fresher Browne was always going to be tough. Browne has been matched against weak opposition his entire career.
It’s going to be interesting to see if Browne chooses to face WBC champion Oleksander Gvozdyk or go after WBA 175 lb champion Dmitry Bivol. Those are both very tough fights for Browne. Bivol has power as well as boxing skills. It’s hard to picture Browne winning that fight. Gvozdyk is a hard puncher, who might knock Browne out unless he’s held all night.
