Jack Catterall is relieved to have his eye on the world title after getting revenge on Josh Taylor

JACK CATTERALL admits he feels a huge sense of relief after last night’s win over Josh Taylor as he turns his attention to a future world title challenge.

The 30-year-old defeated the former undisputed super lightweight champion by unanimous decision in Leeds, 27 months after he lost a controversial split decision to Taylor in Scotland.

Although there was no title in the rematch, this match was a defining moment in Catterall’s career.

“I feel so relieved tonight,” he said Boxing news.

“It’s been a long time coming, I’ve been going back and forth a lot. A lot has been said about Josh Taylor over the past few years. It was fun to finally beat him and get all those questions resolved.”

Judges Mark Bates, Lee Every and Kieran McCann returned scores of 117-111, 116-113 and 117-111 to Catterall, 29-1 (13 KOs), after 12 grueling rounds. Catterall was a worthy winner in the eyes of many, but in the second half of the fight Taylor fought back admirably. However, it was too little, too late for the 33-year-old.

“I felt like I was in control a lot of the rounds,” Catterall said.

“I feel like I won the fight clearly, I think there were rounds where I could have eased off the gas and given him some chances, but I won comfortably tonight.

“There’s always that strange feeling though after the game, for the first time we felt we had clearly won, didn’t get the decision but got the right decision tonight.

“I beat him. There was mention of these scorecards. Obviously, I’ll watch the fight again and judge for myself, but I believe I won.”

Catterall’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, now wants to push his fighter towards a second world title opportunity. Currently, ‘El Gato’ is ranked sixth with the WBO, third with the IBF, fifth with the WBC and fourth with the WBA. Champions Teofimo Lopez, Subriel Matias, Devin Haney and Isaac Cruz will all defend their titles in the coming weeks and months. Hearn’s Matchroom stable is filled with world-class talent at 140 pounds, ensuring another big fight for Catterall is not far away.

“I want one of the world titles, I want to win a world title, I believe I can do it,” Catterall said.

“Lopez, Haney, Matias, there will be a lot of good matches.”