Jack Catterall Wants His Title Shot with Teofimo Lopez Next
During his last tour of duty, junior welterweight boxer Jack “El Gato” Catterall (29-1, 13 KO’s) seized his biggest career win and got a bit of payback. In that duel, El Gato beat bitter UK rival Josh Taylor by unanimous decision. It was actually a rematch to their very controversial February 26, 2022 fight that Taylor won by split decision. This was sharply contested ruling that most, including 3Kings Boxing, felt was the wrong call. Armed with the recent redemptive victory, Catterall is setting his crosshairs on WBO 140-pound champion Teofimo “The Takeover” Lopez (20-1, 13 KO’s).
REMOVE THE TRACK SHOES PLEASE!!
In the aftermath of his thrilling win over Taylor, El Gato illustrated just why he wants a piece of Lopez so badly.
“I was mandatory for the WBO title for what felt like a lifetime. He beat [Josh] Taylor before I did, we both have a win over him and I want to prove that I am better than him. Listen, I believe that I have the style to beat Lopez and that’s the fight that I want.”
STEP IT UP!
Honestly speaking, if most fans had their choice, they’d prefer to see Catterall be The Takeover’s next opponent. This is because Lopez has garnered a great deal of criticism for selecting the virtually unheard of Steve Claggett as his next in-ring challenge.
As the WBO champion, a huge name in the sport and someone who says they are one of the faces of boxing, this is a lackluster opponent selection. To his credit though, Claggett is ranked #9 (WBC), #10 (WBO) and #14 (IBF), and with about a 70% knockout ratio, it seems he has some decent pop. Nevertheless, these clearly were not enough variables to engage the boxing audience.
WHAT’S NEXT?!
Now that Catterall has claimed his pound of flesh and victory over Taylor, it will be interesting to see who he does lock horns with next. If he cannot sign a contract with Lopez by the year’s end, he and his Matchroom Boxing backers will likely look for unification bouts with the remaining champions in the division: Subriel Matias (IBF), Devin Haney (WBC) and Isaac Cruz (WBA).
With boxing being the zany realm that it is, we will just have to wait and see what comes down the pipe next. Yet with so much time left on the 2024 calendar, there is a chance we could get Lopez versus Catterall this year!
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