BADOU JACK insists he is hungrier than ever after more than two years out of the ring and believes he is capable of unifying the division before 2025 is over.

The 41-year-old was last seen back in February 2023 when he stopped Ilunga Makabu in the 12th round of their Riyadh clash to claim the WBC cruiserweight title.

But he is still yet to defend the belt after a lay-off he says is down to nothing more than ‘boxing politics’.

Jack (28-3-3, 17 KOs) had been named champion in recess by the WBC as he apparently plotted a shot at the bridgerweight title but, at their convention in December, they reinstated the Swede as full champ.

In doing so, they also installed Canadian Ryan Rozicki (20-1-1, 19 KOs) as his mandatory challenger and, when speaking to The Ring last week, Jack revealed he is hopeful that fights happens in May.

Then, he says, he wants to fight the winner of Jai Opetaia and Gilberto Ramirez, who hold the other three belts between them.

“It is now two years since my last fight,” said Jack, who recently signed with Anthony Joshua-owned 258 Management.

“I didn’t expect to be out this long the last time I fought. That was one of my best fights, too. I had good momentum but boxing politics got in the way. The lay-off has made me even more hungry, definitely.

“Right now I feel great. I’m very hungry to get back in the ring. I’ve been out for so long because of boxing politics, it has nothing to do with me. But I’ve been training and taking care of my body and I feel amazing.

“I’m looking to become undisputed so I’m looking to fight Opetaia or Ramirez. The winner of them, or both of them. I will fight Rozicki in May and then look to fight one of those guys in the fall. I want to be active.

“First I take care of my mandatory challenger. I haven’t seen much of him but he’s a tough brawler. Then we will get the big fights, the unifications.

“I don’t even know who the top five in the division is. For me, it’s only Opetaia or Ramirez. The other guys? I don’t care about none of them. They’re not relevant to me. But out of them two, I don’t know who is the best. We will see.”

Devout muslim Jack is currently observing Ramadan, where he will abstain from eating or drinking anything from dawn until sunset, from February 28 until March 30. But he says he is still able to prepare for Rozicki on an empty stomach.

“We are just waiting on a date for that fight,” he added. “The sooner the better for me but with Ramadan, I would say the fight will probably be in May.

“Ramadan runs for the whole month of March. I’m already in tip-top shape already because I’ve just done a training camp with Johnathon Banks. But I still train during Ramadan. I do my session right before I break my fast. But if I have a fight in May I still have five or six weeks afterwards to prepare fully.”