Taylor Vs. Catterall Rematch Set For April 27
Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall will have their rematch on April 27th at First Direct Arena, Leeds.
The pair’s first meeting was marred by controversy as Taylor won a split decision. The victory meant he retained his Undisputed Junior Welterweight Title. But most of the boxing community felt Catterall had done enough to win. The Brit never managed to avenge the loss, which was exacerbated as Taylor vacated his title except the WBO Belt. Taylor would then lose the WBO belt to Teofimo Lopez, making this a non-title fight.
Taylor Vs Catterall
“Today I should have been waking up with all of the belts. Boxing, shame on you. … Dreams stolen,” Catterall said
“It wasn’t my best performance, and I’ve put a lot of pressure on myself being heavy favorite and boxing back at home … but once I started catching him, I believe I got the win 100 percent. I know I won the fight; overall I scored the bigger shots and the more meaningful shots. He put up a good fight, but he never won the fight. Second half of the fight I took control,” Taylor stated
The bout poses many intriguing questions. There is a narrative that Taylor is no longer the same fighter that was once undisputed. A poor performance against Lopez followed his performance against Catterall. That created the perception that he could no longer make 140. The Scot indicated his desire to move to 147 to become a two-weight world champion. But given that Taylor is not known for possessing knockout power, there is a danger that a loss to Catterall will disrupt the following plans.
Taylor’s Plans
“I can still do 140-pounds. I’m big enough and strong enough for 147 as well. [Crawford is] unrealistic just now for me. Get a good fight at welter and then hopefully get in for a title shot. Crawford vacating his belts and the belts all become fragmented and then I can get a shot hopefully at a title,” Taylor stated
Catterall also has some questions that need addressing. It is still unclear if the Taylor performance was a one-off since the Brit did defy the odds to put on a spectacular performance in the Scot’s backyard by outboxing him. But given that he came up short, he may need to outdo his first performance.
However, Catterall will benefit from fighting in the UK, meaning he will have a friendly crowd. Following the Taylor loss, he bounced back with a victory against Darragh Foley and Jorge Linares by a unanimous decision. This time, Catterall is ready to come out victorious.
I just can’t wait to smash his head in and be done with it all. I’ve been in Dubai a couple weeks now, training, and getting stopped by people and they’re still talking about the first fight, which is coming up [on] two years ago. So, for me, I need to put him to bed,” Catterall revealed
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