There were a lot of disgruntled people on New Year’s Eve when we announced that Jack Catterall was our pick for British Male Boxer of the Year. “This must be a joke,” was a common response.
Our reasoning, which wasn’t designed to make anyone laugh, was pretty simple: We felt he comfortably beat Josh Taylor in 12 rounds and should have been named home. world ultralightweight champion; If the undisputed verdict had gone his way, I suspect a lot of people would have found our choice unpleasant. As some have suggested, it’s not a sympathy vote. We made the decision purely based on his performance in the ring.
For more context on Catterall’s efforts, he was ranked 10th in the world when he challenged Taylor, a popular fighter and considered by many to be one of the best weightlifters in the world. pure. It should have been a monumental, life-changing victory.
‘This is an insult to more deserving warriors’ was another response to our choice. Those deemed to have taken our decision lightly, in no particular order, Tyson Fury, Sunny Edwards, Joe Joyce, Leigh Wood, and John Ryder (many also mentioned Natasha Jonas apparently did not see). that we call her our British Lady). Warrior of the Year). So if we leave Jonas out of the discussion, for what we hope are obvious reasons, let’s examine each of the commonly mentioned reasons in an attempt to further explain Catterall as a our winner.
Fury knocked out Dillian Whyte in six rounds in April and then stopped his old rival Derek Chisora in December. By defeating Whyte, Fury was the world heavyweight champion against No. 3 (and WBC required). The fact that he won in a one-way fashion is impressive, but he was expected by many to win – in stark contrast to Catterall’s cognitive abilities before he challenged Taylor (in fact). is that Catterall is weaker than Whyte). Fury-Chisora III is a grotesque mismatch and doesn’t strengthen his case.
Sunny Edwards scored two typical epic wins over Muhammed Waseem and Felix Alvarado. Edwards placed second in flyweight when he beat Waseem (seventh) and Alvarado (10 .)order), so he did as expected as he won two outings in 2022. In our opinion, no performance has surpassed his efforts. Catterall, who exceeded all expectations before Taylor.
Leigh Wood’s back-to-back win over Michael Conlan was truly amazing. But in Conlan, he fought someone who wasn’t ranked in the top 10 in the world (Wood was 10order I go in). Though more dramatic and thrilling than Catterall’s performance against Taylor, Wood won an inning that many claimed a 50/50 encounter from the opening bell.
Joe Joyce had a stellar year, beating Christian Hammer and beating Joseph Parker. The Hammer win is completely predictable, so we believe it shouldn’t play a big part in the calculation. The Parker knockdown really caught the eye. Ranked sixth in Parker’s fifth header, Joyce won a sensational match that was the product of top-quality matchmaking. Like Wood versus Conlan, Joyce won an interesting ‘capture’ duel.
Ryder’s case is another intriguing one. His close victory over Danny Jacobs in February can be compared to Catterall’s mission over Taylor in which Jacobs was ranked high (third) and Ryder was not in the Top 10. However, many feel saw Americans judged as harshly as those who agreed with the verdict after 12 rounds (BN was two points ahead of Jacobs, compared with the four-point advantage we calculated for Catterall over Taylor). It is also difficult to pre-divide the bookies’ odds – unlike Catterall, Ryder is a narrow loser. Ryder’s win over Zach Parker in November was somewhat paradoxical, as his opponent withdrew with a wounded hand before round five.
As a result, Catterall remains our British Warrior of the Year. He should have toppled one of the sport’s best (and genuine) world champions after a performance that we think will last in our memory. Ultimately, Catterall’s selection is neither a joke nor a statement of fact, it’s just our opinion.
As always, we congratulate all the boxers on their efforts in 2022 and wish each of them well as we move into the New Year. And we thank you, BN readers, for your continued support – that our opinion can still generate much appreciated interest.
