Jack Catterall won’t enter Josh Taylor’s personal pound-for-pound list anytime soon.
Taylor, the WBO 140-pound titlist from Scotland, did not hide his contempt for his former opponent during a recent interview, saying he doesn’t think Catterall is an elite prizefighter, despite the fact that the British contender arguably gave him the toughest fight of his career to date.
Taylor, 32, controversially outpointed Chorley’s Catterall one year ago in their 12-round junior welterweight undisputed championship. The results sparked off a wave of outrage, with many calling the fight a “robbery.”
Taylor subsequently vacated three of his four belts to give Catterall another shot, but their rematch has been in limbo for nearly a year. In January, it was revealed that Taylor suffered a torn tendon in his foot, thus waylaying the rematch once more.
In a surprising development, Taylor is now headed for a showdown with Teofimo Lopez, the former unified lightweight champion from Brooklyn, New York, possibly in June, either in New York City or in the United Kingdom.
Taylor said he would be open to facing Catterall after the Lopez fight, but he also made it clear he does not have a high opinion of Catterall and thinks the Briton could lose a fight in the interim. Taylor, moreover, suggested that Catterall’s performance against him last year was something of an anomaly.
Catterall is set to fight on the undercard of the cruiserweight title bout between Lawrence Okolie and David light set for March 25 in Manchester.
“Yes, of course, I think the Jack fight is always there, I think it’s there regardless,” Taylor told iD Boxing. “I’d like to do that next after Teofimo Lopez, if possible. He’s gonna have to keep winning. Because if he doesn’t keep winning then [the rematch does not make sense].
“I think if he fights another high-caliber opponent, he gets beat. You know, because I don’t think he’s that great. I know that sounds silly because of the last fight and it was a close fight, but he’s not that great. He’s very good at one thing, which is slowing the pace down and spoiling. That’s what he’s good at, you know, so if he fights another high caliber opponent, he’s getting beat. So, he has to keep winning [to get the rematch], that’s for sure.”