Jack Catterall couldn’t take out a 38-year-old, faded former champion Saturday night, but he is completely confident he will end Josh Taylor’s career if Taylor fights him next.
Catterall called out Taylor again after his relatively easy 12-round, unanimous-decision victory over Jorge Linares at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England. The British southpaw is willing to fight Taylor at a catch weight somewhere between the junior welterweight limit of 140 pounds and the welterweight maximum of 147 to have their rematch rescheduled.
“I think it’s only natural Taylor and I get it on,” Catterall stated during a post-fight interview for Matchroom Boxing’s YouTube channel. “It’s personal now and hopefully we can get that fight over the line.”
The 12-round rematch between Taylor (19-1, 13 KOs) and Catterall (28-1, 13 KOs) was postponed twice earlier this year, first due to Taylor’s foot injury and again to accommodate Sky Sports’ scheduling preference for what would’ve been a pay-per-view fight in the United Kingdom. It ultimately was canceled because the WBO ordered the Scottish southpaw to make a mandated defense of its junior welterweight title against Teofimo Lopez.
Brooklyn’s Lopez (19-1, 13 KOs) upset Taylor by unanimous decision June 10 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. The 32-year-old Taylor has since stated that he will move up to the welterweight division for his next bout, but a second fight with Catterall seemingly would do bigger business in the UK than any alternative for Taylor.
“Yeah, listen, if we can do a catch weight, the weight’s not easy for any of us,” Catterall said. “If you’re making weight easy, then you probably should be at the weight below. But I’m sure we can come to an agreement and do it at a catch weight.”
Catterall would prefer to battle Taylor in Manchester, England, about 20 miles north of Catterall’s hometown of Chorley. Regardless of the potential location, the 30-year-old Catterall wants an opportunity to avenge his controversial 12-round, split-decision defeat to Taylor in February 2022 at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland.
“You know what? I honestly believe I can send him into retirement,” Catterall said. “I think I beat him, Lopez beat him and I can finish him off for good.”
Catterall didn’t finish off Linares (47-9, 29 KOs) after hurting him late in the fifth round. He did, however, completely control the action and comfortably beat the Venezuelan veteran on the scorecards of judges Steve Gray (117-111), Olena Pobyvailo (116-112) and Guiseppe Quartarone (116-112).
Their 12-round main event didn’t at all resemble Catterall’s closely contested fight for Taylor’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 140-pound crowns almost 20 months ago.
Catterall dropped Taylor – then the undefeated, undisputed 140-pound champion – early in the eighth round and defeated him 113-112 according to judge Howard Foster. Taylor outpointed Catterall on the cards of judges Ian John Lewis (114-111) and Victor Loughlin (113-112) and retained his four titles.
“You know what? It doesn’t get to me anymore,” Catterall said. “I’m quite resilient. I’ve got a good team, good family around me, and we don’t let things like that get us down. We know what we’ve gotta do. But I think the aftermath, the way Taylor’s conducted himself, and the public really want the fight, so it’s only natural that fight gets made.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.