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Badou Jack was set to avenge what many boxing insiders felt was an unjust split-decision loss to Jean Pascal on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather’s June 6 exhibition bout against YouTuber Logan Paul.

Instead, Jack was notified at the end of May that Pascal had tested positive for several performance-enhancing drugs and the fight was canceled. Jack went on to knock out undefeated late replacement Dervin Colina in the fourth round.

Jack has seemingly put Pascal and the light heavyweight division in his review mirror as he prepares to move up to cruiserweight in hopes of capturing his third world title in as many divisions.

Jack opens up to Zenger about the disappointment of not being able to avenge the Pascal loss, shoots down a potential bout against Andre Dirrell and talks about the Badou Jack Foundation.

Percy Crawford interviewed Badou Jack for Zenger.

Zenger: Before our last interview could appear, Jean Pascal tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, and your anticipated rematch with him was off the week of the fight. This seems to be the Badou Jack playbook where you just roll with the punches.

Jack: Yeah, I mean there have been so many bad things that have happened in my career, bad decisions, and bullshit, so it’s nothing new to me. And the same thing with drug testing happened before when I fought Lucian Bute.

Zenger: Your career seems to be a Hollywood producer’s dream, so maybe that’s the silver lining (laughing).

Jack: (Laughing). Right!

Zenger: You put a lot into landing that rematch. Obviously, you don’t want to fight a drug cheat, but in the same breath, that had to be devastating news.

Jack: It was really sad. First of all, they robbed me the first time, then I had to wait 18 months for the rematch. I was actually on my way up to cruiserweight before I was offered the fight with Pascal. Floyd [Mayweather] asked me if I could make the weight, and I said, “Sure!” I had a little time, four months, so I said, “Yeah!” I was up to 220 pounds and then I had to cut all that weight to fight at 175 and got robbed.

Floyd called me a couple of days after and said I had to fight him [Pascal] in April in LA. Then the pandemic happened, and then he wanted more money, excuses, excuses. Then the week before the fight, I was in the best shape of my life mentally and physically. I was so ready to stop him this time.

Zenger: It seems like you always felt that something wasn’t right about Pascal in terms of being a clean fighter.

Jack: Yes. Before the first fight, we asked for VADA [Voluntary Anit-Doping Association] testing, and there was no testing. We were begging for it. It didn’t happen. And then this time we asked from the beginning. It didn’t happen for the full camp, but it was the last five weeks. That was better than nothing.

Zenger: It served its purpose because it caught him. I’m sure you have moved on from any potential fight with Pascal. You have talked about moving up to cruiserweight for a long time. However, Andre Dirrell respectfully said he would like to test his skills against you at 175. Is that something you would entertain?

Jack: No, definitely not. He’s not in my plans. But you’re right, at least he was respectful. … At the stage where he’s at right now, he brings nothing to the table. He has no title, he’s ranked way below me, there is no money in a fight like that. I have nothing to gain, other than his name, but his name doesn’t mean nothing right now to me. He’s not a part of my plans. My plan is to become a three-division world champion. If it’s a crazy money fight, I will stay at 175, like a Canelo [Álvarez] fight or something. Other than that, he’s not a part of my plan.

Zenger: From light heavyweight [175 pound weight limit] to cruiserweight [200 pound limit] is probably the biggest gap in between weight divisions in boxing. How do you plan to properly put on the weight and grow into the division?

Jack: It takes time to put on real muscle. Also, I’m cutting a lot of weight to make 175. I was cutting at least 30 pounds. We’ll see. I will grow into the weight class. I’m about to be 38, I’m tired of cutting weight. Who says that cutting 30 pounds is better than gaining 30 pounds? Plus, I want to make history. I want to challenge these bigger guys. And stylistically I have an easier time with the bigger guys.

Zenger: Do you feel like the speed advantage that one would think you would have at cruiserweight will play a factor in your success in the division?

Jack: Yeah definitely. And I came from super middleweight. I’m not even the biggest light heavyweight. Canelo has conquered a lot of weight classes, Floyd did it, so there is no reason why I can’t try that. Just to be big and heavy, that’s easy. You can just eat and lift weights. It’s gotta be functional strength. I’m going to keep my speed, and it’s going to be fun.

Zenger: Given the time needed you would need to do everything you just mentioned of growing into your cruiserweight frame. When can we expect to see you make your official cruiserweight debut?

Jack: I’m not sure. I hope to be back before the end of the year. It might not be for the title in that fight, but never say never. I’m going to talk to my team and see what’s next.

Zenger: You always have so much more than boxing going on. You are very active in other countries with philanthropy work, and your foundation. Is that the perfect balance for you during your fighting downtime?

Jack: Yeah. Right now, during the pandemic, it’s been kind of slow with the foundation as far as visiting refugee camps and stuff. We still got a lot of stuff done though. My fight before last, we donated a lot to my foundation. I just came back from Dubai. That’s when I saw that Andre Dirrell had called me out.

Zenger: Tell me a bit more about the Badou Jack Foundation.

Jack: We are trying to make it one of the biggest foundations in the world, especially for refugee kids and orphans in those poor countries. The focus is mostly where my dad is from, West Africa, Gambia and the Middle East. We’re working with a Palestinian refugee camp, a Syrian refugee camp, and we’re going to start with foster kids here in the states, as well.

Zenger: You are an amazing man and fighter, Badou. Continue fighting the good fight, and I wish you the best of luck. Is there anything else you want to add?

Jack: Hopefully, I will have some good news soon. Thank you, Percy.

Edited by Judith Isacoff and Matthew B. Hall

WASHINGTON — Facebook-owned Instagram announced that new accounts of users under the age of 16 would be set to private by default to ensure the safety of young people. 

The update is one of the few new features rolled out by Instagram to make the application safer for everyone, especially minors.

“Creating an experience on Instagram that’s safe and private for young people, but also fun comes with competing challenges,” Instagram said in a statement on July 27. 

“We want them to easily make new friends and keep up with their family, but we don’t want them to deal with unwanted DMs or comments from strangers. We think private accounts are the right choice for young people, but we recognize some young creators might want to have public accounts to build a following.”

Users below the age of 16 (18 in some countries) will now have private accounts by default, and only approved followers can see posts and like or comment under private accounts.

Instagram will roll out new technology aimed at reducing unwanted contact from adults — like those who have already been blocked or reported by other teens — and it will change how advertisers can reach its teenage audience, as per a media report.

“For young people who already have a public account on Instagram, we will show them a notification highlighting the benefits of a private account and explaining how to change their privacy settings. We will still give young people the choice to switch to a public account or keep their current account public if they wish,” the company’s statement said.

The decision has been taken after detailed research carried out by Instagram. The research suggested that eight out of ten young people accepted the private default settings during sign-up. 

However, Instagram will not force teenagers to remain private. They can switch to public accounts at any time, including during sign-up, as per the media report. 

Instagram has also introduced an up-gradation for its multi-clip video ‘Reels. The social media app has now said that users can create 60 seconds videos on Reels. 

The recent update also adds functionality for a captions sticker on Reels, which transcribes audio to text, as per a media report. The caption sticker is currently available only in a handful of English-speaking countries.

Reels was introduced last year in August as “a new way to create and discover short, entertaining videos on Instagram.” It earlier supported Reels up to 30 seconds only, while its competitor TikTok recently expanded its limit to three minutes for all creators.

Announcing the news, Instagram posted a meme on its official Twitter handle on July 27 showing the progression of its Reels feature. However, Instagram did not reveal further details about the latest update. 

(With inputs from ANI)

Edited by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and Praveen Pramod Tewari

TARRANT, Ala. — As a white city councilman in an Alabama town faces outrage for directing a racial slur at a black city councilwoman, the town’s mayor says the episode was a calculated political stunt meant to harm him.

Video footage of the July 19 town meeting in Tarrant, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham, rocketed across the U.S. at the speed of Twitter, drawing demands for John “Tommy” Bryant’s resignation.

Interviews and Internet messages reviewed by Zenger reveal a power struggle with Bryant and his wife, who are white, battling black first-term mayor Wayman A. Newton, who has become a disruptive force in one corner of the Deep South. The fight in this majority-black town of about 6,200 has an unusual complication: Newton says Bryant and Veronica Bandy Freeman, the councilwoman he smeared, often work together to thwart his proposals.

Bryant was caught on video during a hearing Monday night, pointing to a black councilwoman and asking, “Do we have a house n*****r in here?” He later said he was trying to draw attention to Newton’s use of the phrase, which typically refers to a black American who chooses to be subservient to white people.

Newton denies using the phrase but says he was targeted for being critical of a fellow black politician who has fought him on vote after vote. Newton and Bryant are both Republicans. City council elections in Tarrant are non-partisan and party affiliation is not required, according to Newton.

Bryant’s wife Nancy Mahler Bryant claimed in a Facebook post before Monday’s hearing that Newton started the racial fireworks by using the slur to berate Freeman. Mrs. Bryant said Freeman sided with the white city council faction and opposed Newton’s move to fire a private garbage collection firm and bring that work under the town’s control.

“He [Newton] called another council member a house n*****r because she did not want to vote with him,” Mrs. Bryant wrote on Facebook. She initially wrote the word “bigger” but later corrected her typo, spelling out the two-word racial slur, the post’s version history shows. Mrs. Bryant later deleted her comment, but Newton read it aloud during Monday’s town meeting.

“He hollered ‘f-you’ multiple times to all the council members when they did not agree with him for independent garbage service,” Mrs. Bryant wrote. “He has demeaned, harassed and slandered two council members to the point of having the police called on him and police reports filed.”

Newton told Zenger he hasn’t verbally abused anyone. “It’s not true,” he told Zenger. “The one time I actually made a point of being verbal was when he [Mr. Bryant] called me ‘boy.’”

Freeman called Bryant’s words “unconscionable racial discrimination and harassment,” in a statement issued through her attorney. She is one of two black members of the Tarrant City Council. The other, Tracie B. Threadford, sent Zenger a screen capture of Mrs. Bryant’s Facebook post.

“He’s got to go,” Threadford said of Bryant. She said, too, that Mrs. Bryant is openly racist, “calling us ‘the blacks’ and using the n-word.” She declined to reveal her party affiliation.

Bryant is defiant, denying he’s a bigot and telling local reporters that he may run for mayor against Newton.

Democrats and their allies are calling for Bryant to step down. “He is a racist and unfit to serve,” Alabama Democrats Executive Director Wade F. Perry said in a statement that called him and two other Republicans “embarrassments to Alabama.”

“THIS MAN HAS TO GO!” the Alabama state conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said in a statement. “We are fed up with the way he feels emboldened to spew his racist hate in the public.”

In a statement, Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl did not say whether Bryant should resign, but called his language a “racially charged outburst” that “is completely unacceptable in any setting.”

Wahl praised Newton as a member of the GOP and said the party “deeply appreciate[s] his commitment to serving his constituents honorably, even in the face of adversity.”

The Republican National Committee did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Newton accused Freeman and Bryant of coordinating a clumsy political attack against him that was rooted in politics, not race. “I’ve had ongoing battles with Bryant that have also included Freeman,” he said. “Together, they’ve undermined everything I’ve tried to do. They’ve been hand-in-hand for some time, voting together on practically everything.”

He said he received written notification on July 15, four days before Bryant used the racial slur in public, that Freeman would file an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint against him and the city for racial discrimination.

“The timing is peculiar. I believe it was all orchestrated,” Newton said. “It was a political strategy poorly executed.”

Newton is seated next to Freeman in the video. He questioned the sincerity of her tearful exit from the council chambers, saying that she wasn’t crying when Bryant used the racial slur.

“She didn’t even start crying until I started reading the Facebook post from Bryant’s wife,” he said.

Newton’s first-term agenda includes initiatives to attract businesses to a city known mainly for producing foundry coke, a coal byproduct that’s burned to melt iron. He said Bryant and Freeman, along with two other council members, have thwarted him at every turn.

“I once tried to hire a consultant with extensive experience helping small municipalities identify economic development and brownfield development opportunities,” he said. “They refused to even listen to him.”

Newton did win a battle of wills by introducing and passing an anti-nepotism bill.

“We had a case where a father was the direct supervisor of two sons, and I wanted to ensure that city hiring and promotion practices were based on merit,” he said. “But, every time I introduced the bill, it was DOA [dead on arrival] with Freeman and Bryant and the rest of the council. It wasn’t until I threatened to add the bill to every council agenda did they finally vote for its approval.”

Threadford said Newton is right about the other council members’ obstructionism. But she blames racism, not politics, for a series of impasses.

“The fact is that Tarrant wants to change, but not through a black man,” she said. “This is buffoonery at its finest.”

Edited by David Martosko and Andre Johnson

Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano aim to knock each other out on Saturday in a clash that could produce the first four-belt unification champion in the history of the 154-pound division.

“It’s dangerous to walk into my shots,” said “Iron Man” Charlo. “Most opponents I’ve faced who’ve done that, I’ve put them out.”

As for “El Boxi” Castano, the Argentinian said: “I’m ready for war. If Charlo wants to brawl, then by all means I will welcome that.”

Charlo, of Houston, Texas, fights for family and legacy. Castano, of Buenos Aires, is in it for glory and country.

The 31-year-olds will battle for Charlo’s IBF, WBA and WBC crowns and the Castano’s WBO title in a Premier Boxing Champions headliner from San Antonio, Texas. It will air on Showtime at 9 p.m. EDT.

The winner will join former middleweight champions Bernard Hopkins and Jermain Taylor, ex-junior welterweight champ Terence Crawford, junior welterweight title-holder Josh Taylor and former cruiserweight champ Oleksandr Usyk as a four-belt division king.

“What’s on my mind is the legacy,” said Charlo. “This could be the fight … that puts me in the Hall of Fame.”

Charlo’s story

Charlo (34–1, 18 KOs) retained his WBC crown in September over IBF/WBA title-holder Jeison Rosario in a three-knockdown, eighth-round stoppage. The finishing blow was a final-round gut jab that left the hard-punching Dominican flat on his back.

On the same night, Charlo’s twin, Jermall, dominated Sergiy Derevyanchenko of the Ukraine by unanimous decision. Those wins come on the heels of the siblings establishing a milestone by sharing a card in May 2016 in Las Vegas two days after they turned 26.

That night, Jermell — the younger sibling by a minute — came from behind for a title-winning eighth-round stoppage of John Jackson. The history-making feat preceded Jermall’s unanimous decision over left-handed former champion Austin Trout in “The Hit Man’s” second of three IBF 154-pound title defenses. In winning the vacated world title, Jermell joined Jermall as a junior middleweight champion.

“I won a world title at the same weight division with my brother,” said Jermell, whose twin is a WBC 160-pound champ. “This fight is going to solidify the Charloses in people’s minds. I’ve wanted to be undisputed since I was a child.”

“You’re going to see a top pound-for-pound fighter,” said Charlo, who is after his third straight stoppage. “I’ve knocked people out in just about every round.”

In 2017 as Charlo halted Charles Hatley and southpaw Erickson Lubin in consecutive bouts.

Following a two-knockdown majority decision over Trout in June 2018, Charlo was dethroned as WBC champion in a disputed unanimous decision loss to Tony Harrison that December.

Charlo bounced back with a third-round stoppage of Jorge Cota in June 2019, highlighted by separate right hands that twice left the loser flat on his back. Cota was a late replacement for Harrison, whose ankle injury scuttled their rematch before Charlo brutally dropped him twice in the 11th and final round of their return title bout in December 2019.

Charlo will have a healthy trainer this time in Derrick James, who developed a hernia the first week of the Rosario camp. James endured through December as Errol Spence defended his IBF and WBC welterweight titles by unanimous decision over Danny Garcia after being hospitalized in critical condition as a result of a car accident in October 2019.

James is also prepping Spence (27–0, 21 KOs) for eight-division title winner Manny Pacquiao (62–7–2, 39 KOs) on Aug. 21 in Las Vegas.

Castano’s story

Castano (17–0–1, 12 KOs) began assisting his father, Carlos, a street sweeper and former pro boxer, in removing debris and litter from the roads of La Matanza or “The Slaughter,” a violent area in Buenos Aires.

“I was ashamed at first to be seen sweeping streets,” said Castano. “I used to cover my head with a jacket. In time, I became proud that I was helping my family.”

Castano grew up surrounded by boxers, which helped him resist the lure of the streets and follow in the footsteps of Argentine legends such as ex-champions Carlos Monzon, Sergio Martinez, Marcos Maidana and Lucas Matthysse.

“The glory of a win would be equal to a potential Argentina World Cup title,” he said, but noted: “Soccer is different because you have 10 other people to rely on. I’m on my own in the ring.”

Castano went 181–5–5 as an amateur, earning a South American Games gold medal along the way, defeating Spence, 2012 Olympic silver medalist Esquiva Falcao and, in the World Series of Boxing, Sergiy Derevyanchenko.

Castano survived being dropped in the second round of an interim title-winning two-knockdown, sixth-round KO of Emmanuel de Jesus in November 2016, won a split-decision for the WBA’s crown over Michel Soro in July 2017, and, after being elevated to the status of WBA regular champion, stopped left-handed Cedric Vitu by 12th-round TKO in March 2018.

“El Boxi” held the WBA crown until being stripped in June 2019 for declining to face mandatory challenger Michel Soro in France. But in 2019 Castano had a draw with left-handed former champion Erislandy Lara (March) and a one-sided fifth-round stoppage over veteran Wale Omotoso (November), who retired on his stool with a damaged left shoulder

February’s unanimous decision dethroned Brazil’s Patrick Teixeira (31–2, 22 KOs) as WBO title holder, ending a 15-month ring absence for Castano and earning his shot at Charlo.

“I have more variety in my arsenal than anybody Charlo’s fought,” said Castano, who nearly stopped Teixeira in the 12th with a right to the body and a left uppercut.

“If I have to go for more power instead of finesse, rest assured that I can knock Charlo down. I want to be the first in history to be undisputed champion at 154 pounds in the four-belt era and one of the best Argentinian and Latin American boxers who ever lived.”

(Edited by Matthew B. Hall and Judith Isacoff)

Grammy-winning rapper Drake is the latest among a group of celebrities — including actors Robert Downey Jr., Leonardo DiCaprio and Orlando Bloom — teaming up with California-based Aspiration to find ways to reduce the large carbon footprint that comes with being an international superstar.

The environmentally friendly financial services company will audit Drake’s schedule, events and travel to calculate his carbon footprint. Part of Aspiration’s approach includes a reforestation program that plants millions of trees around the country to offset carbon overload.

For Drake, who had 31 concert dates in 2019 spanning Los Angeles to Rio de Janeiro and London to Paris, his private jet — dubbed “Air Drake”— the impact of his carbon footprint takes some calculating.

“Drake’s carbon footprint is bigger than yours or mine,” said Andrei Cherny, CEO of Aspiration. “If Aspiration is able to help [him] cut out his negative impact on the planet, we can help everyone.”

He commends Drake for leading what he describes as “a cultural movement to inspire people to take easy, automated, personalized actions to fight the climate crisis.”

Data on the actual calculation of Drake’s carbon footprint was unavailable, but a proprietary algorithm makes it easy to establish carbon neutrality, according to Aspiration. The firm will also engage a third-party auditor to validate Drake’s activities as carbon-neutral.

“We have software that takes the input of an individual or corporation in all parts of their activities: transportation, production of products, and the carbon footprint of the consumers that are consuming those products,” said Aspiration co-founder Joe Sanberg. “Based on the data we get from our clients, including Drake, we’re able to calculate the carbon emissions of all those activities, and then we’re able to calculate how many trees through our reforestation program we need to plant and for what period of time.”

A reforestation program is one way the financial services firm helps offset clients’ carbon footprint. (Brian Garrity/Unsplash)

It takes a little over 1,000 trees planted to offset the average person’s emissions, with each absorbing about 31 pounds of carbon dioxide, according to the nonprofit conservation group Saving Nature.

“It’s exciting to partner with a company that’s found an easy way to offer everyone the ability to reduce their carbon footprint,” Drake said in a statement. “Aspiration’s innovative approach to combating climate change is really inspiring, and I hope together we can help to motivate and create awareness.”

Sustainability built in

Cherny, an economic policy expert and former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton, and Sanberg, a progressive entrepreneur and investor, co-founded Aspiration in 2013 and opened for business in 2015. Since the launch, the company has gained 4 million customers and $250 million in backing from investors, including Downey Jr., DiCaprio and Bloom.

Though the company provides everyday banking products, Sanberg describes Aspiration as a “sustainability services provider,” rather than a conventional bank.

“We provide financial products like banking accounts, investment products and a credit card,” he said. “All of these products are made special by the automated sustainability features they have attached to them. So you can turn those everyday financial products into more than where you deposit your paycheck or what to use to buy your groceries.”

In the past year, the company’s individual and business customers have funded the planting of more than 15 million trees in the United States, Sanberg said, adding that there are plans to plant more than 5 billion over the next 20 years.

Aspiration’s efforts include the “Plant Your Change” program, which allows customers to round up any transaction to the nearest dollar to plant a tree through the company’s reforestation program. The Aspiration Redwood Fund is a sustainable mutual fund that invests only in eco-friendly companies. The Planet Protection Program tallies up drivers’ carbon output and then buys carbon offsets to counter the climate impact.

The company also offers a mobile application — Aspiration Impact Measurement, or AIM — that uses more than 75,000 data points to gauge a company’s sustainability.

“It’s like a FitBit for your sustainability that shows how the places you use your Aspiration card treats their workers and the environment,” said Sanberg.

AIM’s “people” scores reflects company metrics like employee pay, access to health care and workforce diversity. “Planet” scores measure greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency and renewable energy use.

“The cold hard truth is that most people are depositing their money in the big financial institutions, which use that money to fund loans to oil, gas, coal, firearms and private prison companies,” Sanberg said. “When they find out that their money is being used to violate their values, they want to switch, and they know that at Aspiration, their money is never lent for those kinds of activities.

“When you deposit your money at Aspiration, we place it at one of the commercial banks in our commercial bank network that makes loans to individuals who are buying homes or starting small businesses.”

Future product offerings, Sanberg said, will include carbon-neutral insurance and “green” mortgages.

Sustainability trending upward in banking

Aspiration’s leaders believe that the market for sustainability services will grow dramatically over time.

“There’s not a year in the foreseeable future in which fewer people are going to want to take personal action to fight the climate crisis,” Cherny said. “Aspiration is unique because what we’re delivering is sustainability itself — helping people and companies easily and automatically integrate sustainable actions into daily life.”

“Corporations are going from not paying for sustainability services to paying for them in a short period of time,” said Sanberg. “I think about it like the adoption of websites 25 years ago. In a short period of time, every company went from not having a website to having a website.”

Zilvinas Bareisis, head of retail banking at Celent, a Boston-based advisory firm, states in a research paper that the banking industry is taking significant steps to reverse the effects of climate change.

“As the Paris Agreement aiming to limit global warming came into force in 2016, banks were becoming increasingly aware of the risks climate change was posing to their business,” Bareisis said. “While risk management still matters, the banks’ focus now is shifting to proactive efforts and what they can do to positively influence change.”

Bareisis’ paper also highlights a set of industry-developed guidelines for the future.

The Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB), announced during the UN General Assembly in September 2019, “provide framework for a sustainable banking system and help the industry to demonstrate how it makes a positive contribution to society.”

The PRB’s 235 signatory banks — with total assets of more than $60 trillion and coming from 69 countries — typically engage in lending to green initiatives, financing energy-efficient properties and issuing so-called green bonds tied to sustainability goals, much like Aspiration.

As a financial firm, not a chartered bank, Aspiration is not a PRB signatory institution. But its leaders view the company as singularly positioned to take on the climate change challenge through its traditional bank products.

“One of our opportunities is that we’re creating a brand-new category; there really isn’t a set of competitors out there,” said Sanberg. “We’re a unique one of one provider of sustainability services that are branded and technology-driven. There’s only one Aspiration brand, and that puts us in an interesting and privileged position, but also one where we have a lot of responsibility on our shoulders.”

(Edited by Judith Isacoff and Matthew B. Hall)