Sam Jones, manager for junior welterweight contender Jack Catterall, does not believe Josh Taylor is serious when he discusses his eagerness to have a rematch.
Back in February of 2022, Taylor – then the undisputed world champion at 140 – won a controversial twelve round split decision over Catterall.
Over the course of a year, Taylor vacated the WBC, IBF and WBA titles due to pending mandatory orders.
A few months ago, he dropped the WBO title in a losing effort against Teofimo Lopez in New York City.
Despite the loss, a rematch with Catterall would be a fight in the UK.
According to Jones, two offers have been made and they were rejected by Taylor.
“Matchroom have made two offers for Josh Taylor and Top Rank have even said it’s a great offer and everyone around him knows it’s a good offer, but Josh just doesn’t want to lose to Jack Catterall again so let’s see what happens,” Jones said to Betway.
“Only one side wants to make the fight, and Josh Taylor doesn’t want to lose or fight Jack Catterall, that’s the bottom line of it. We are open to everything including a catchweight, but he has to agree to the fight first which he’s not done. We’ve agreed our side, but it is Josh Taylor who is being unrealistic.
“It’s the same as anything, the easiest way to decline a fight is by pricing yourself out of a fight and that is what he is doing. But there are lots of great fights out there for Jack. You have the Jose Ramirez fight, Arnold Barboza the WBO number one, Teofimo Lopez which is a great fight. There’s a load of options for Jack but it’s about taking the right step for the next fight.
“The only reason we wanted to do the Josh Taylor fight is because everybody wants to see it apart from Josh Taylor. Jack Catterall can beat anyone, and he is definitely in the top four in the division.”