Eddie Hearn Looking At a World Title Fight for Jack Catterall
To rebound from his February 15, 2025 split-decision loss to Arnold Barboza Jr., welterweight boxer Jack “El Gato” Catterall (31-2, 13 KO’s) defeated Harlem Eubank by way of unanimous decision. The duel actually came to an unsavory, abrupt end when an accidental clash of heads led to the dissolution of the fight in the seventh round.
With the win, the 32-year-old welterweight has his sights set on capturing a world title pronto. And realizing that time is not on his side, El Gato and his team plan on pressing on the gas. This sentiment was reinforced by Catterall’s Matchroom Boxing promoter, Eddie Hearn.
“For us, obvious he [Catterall] wants to move on and get himself in a position for a world title. You got Paddy Donovan coming up against Louis Crooker – it looks like that could be for the IBF world title. With Boots [Jaron Ennis] moving up, [Shakhram] Giyasov is mandatory to fight for a world title and I want to get Jack in that position . . . for us, we move on for a shot at a world title!”
CREEPING ON A COME UP
Among the spoils of war of his latest win over Eubank, Catterall collected the IBF inter-continental title. Clearly, Hearn means to leverage this belt to catapult El Gato into a mandatory challenger position.
This was the naked implication of his comparing the brewing Paddy Donovan versus Lewis Crooker scrap to that of mandatory challenger Shakhram Giyasov. Giyasov, ranked #1 (WBA) and #9 (WBO), is lined up for a collision with WBA welterweight champion Rolando Romero. Eddie Hearn means to set Catterall up in the same position.
Donovan and Crooker are inches away from squaring up to fight for Jaron “Boots” Ennis’s recently vacated IBF title. Once they clash swords, regardless of the victor, Hearn wants Catterall there to blitz the new champion straight away. So let’s see if all these back-room machinations go as planned for the Eddie Hearn.
Posts like this are why I keep coming back. It’s rare to find content that’s simple, practical, and not full of fluff.
I’ve read similar posts, but yours stood out for its clarity.
I never thought about it that way before. Great insight!