During a lively press conference in Manchester, Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall completed their two-city press tour and it didn’t take long for tempers to flare.
The fighters almost got physical before they even took their seats, with Chorley’s Catterall being cheered and Scotland’s Taylor the protagonist and the villain being booed by the Manchester crowd.
Catterall said he felt certain he’s got Taylor’s number, after their controversial first fight two years ago saw the challenger for Taylor’s undisputed junior featherweight champion lose on the scorecards.
“I’m very grateful, I always get good support,” Caatterall said of the fans, who had showed up to cheer him before Catterall made reference to yesterday’s press conference in Edinburgh.
“It comes with the territory, you go up there in his back garden and take it on the chin and it’s his turn today, and these [fans] are going to make plenty of noise for me today.
It is almost nine weeks until they meet at the Leeds Arena on April 27, and despite the animosity between the pair, Catterall insisted: “I’m not that emotionally invested, it’s him who’s probably more emotional towards it than me. I know I’ve got a job to do, April 27, it’s business-time.”
Then, to Taylor, Catterall said: “You’re finished after this fight. Done.”
Catterall’s trainer Jamie Moore thinks his fighter will fulfil his destiny and potential on April 27.
“I’ve always been a big believer in Jack, I said the day he came into our gym he would be a world champion,” said Moore.
“That two years in between [the first fight and rematch] has made it a better story, people are more interested in it now than when it should have taken place six months afterwards.”
Taylor’s coach Joe McNally feels that in a battle of skills or power, his man is better equipped for April 27.
“Catterall, he isn’t a knockout puncher, that’s a fact,” said McNally. “He couldn’t get an old, shot [Jorge] Linares out of there, and to think he’s going to get this man [Taylor] out of there, not a chance. May the best man win. We’re really confident.”
Taylor, thriving in his role as the bad guy for the day, said he has been in camp for months already, knowing the fight was on the horizon.
“I’m looking forward to getting this fight done,” said the Scot. “[He] Couldn’t beat me the first time, he’s certainly not going to beat me this time.
“It’s been a long two years coming. We tried to get the fight done straightway, it never happened, mandatories then came in, we’re here now, we’re going to settle the score on April 27.
“When I beat him again, he’s got nowhere to go. His biggest fight is me. He will never be a world champion. I’ll end Jack Caterrall’s career, that never got going.”