Is anyone ready for the third battle?
Jack Catterall, who suffered a controversial defeat in his first fight against then-undisputed 140-pound champion Josh Taylor, defeated his opponent by unanimous decision in non-title rematch on Saturday night in Leeds, England.
The official scores are 117-111, 117-111 and 116-112. Boxing Junkie scores it 115-113 for Catterall, seven rounds to five.
“Tonight is bitter sweet,” Catterall said. “There is no world title. I won the war. We can close that chapter with Josh Taylor.”
Many believe Catterall deserves the nod at the first meeting, in February 2022 in Taylor’s native Scotland. However, Taylor won the split decision.
Few would suggest that Taylor was robbed on Saturday, although his US promoter, Bob Arum, called the scoring “a disgrace” and vowed never to book an American fighter. UK too.
The scoring probably used to be too one-sided given the competitiveness of the match, which included some tough scoring innings.
Catterall (29-1, 13 KOs) controlled the first half of the round, taking the fight to his opponent, generally hitting him with punches and landing the harder shots.
However, Taylor, clearly aware that victory was slipping away from him, rallied in the second half by switching to a different gear. He matches his opponent’s punches and sometimes keeps him back for long periods of time.
Catterall landed perhaps the biggest blow of the night – a big left midway through Round 11 that rocked Taylor – but he couldn’t finish Taylor.
In the end, Catterall’s ability to adjust his pace and hit cleaner shots clearly gave him the biggest win of his career.
He was nervous but also confident in the moments before the decision was announced.
“I felt that feeling last time,” he said. “This time everything happened much faster and more decisively. Last time it took a long time, but I knew I could do it [on Saturday].”
Taylor (19-2, 13 KOs) was not as loud as Arum in condemning the scoring but the former champion believes he raised his hand to the wrong person.
“To be fair, I think I just won the fight,” said Taylor, who lost his title to Teofimo Lopez in his previous fight. “It was a tight fight. The controversy in the first match probably fell into the hands of the referee. …
“Listen, fair play to Jack. He won the war. Let’s do the third one. Why not? It was a good fight.”
Catterall was then asked if he would do it again with Taylor. “To Ed,” he said, nodding to promoter Eddie Hearn, who was standing next to him in the ring.
Hearn seems to suggest that Catterall-Taylor III will not arrive immediately. Instead, Catterall, who has never won a world title, will be chasing one.
“The third fight is a big fight but he deserves to be world champion. That has to be the focus,” he said. “We’re at 140. Subriel Matias fights Liam Paro coming up. We have Devin Haney vs. Sandor Martin.
“I would love to see this guy challenge and win the world championship in a worthy way.”
