Josh Taylor Still Wants to Fight Jack Catterall and Silence his Critics
WBO junior welterweight champion Josh “The Tartan Tornado” Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs) is set to fight former unified lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez on June 10. But, despite that upcoming title defense, Taylor feels there is an unsettled matter with heated rival Jack Catterall (26-1, 13 KOs) that he wants to rectify and resolve once and for all.
The two fought in February 2022, with Taylor winning by a controversial split decision. They were to engage in a rematch on March 4 of this year in Glasgow, Scotland. However, Taylor pulled out of the fight after suffering a foot injury. Instead of rescheduling the rematch with Catterall, The Tartan Tornado has decided to fight Lopez.
During an interview with news source iFL TV, Taylor claimed he could carry on and not worry about Catterall. However, the 32-year-old from Edinburgh, Scotland said how things went during and after that fight with Catterall continues to unnerve him.
“For pride and myself, I want to fight him again and shut everybody up.”
THE FIRE IS BACK
Taylor has drawn the ire of UK boxing fans and has been accused of ducking Catterall. Ticked off by the critics, the fiery Scot wants to settle things with Catterall once and for all.
“It’s not personal for me. No, it’s business. But with this team, I got my spite back; because of what’s happened and what’s been said and done, I got my spite back. I really want to hurt the fucking guy now.
But I didn’t have that last fight. I was like, ‘okay, I’ll see you fight night’. I thought I was going to roll over the fight, and that’s the mistake I made.”
The junior welterweight champ attributes his performance against Catterall to a horrible training camp. Taylor says he’s a better fighter when motivated and bull-headed. He promised to be in much better form in a second fight with Catterall.
Given this declaration, does that mean that Taylor plans to stay at junior welterweight for a while longer? Word on the street is that making 140 pounds is a chore, and he is looking to move up to 147.
It was not a good look on Taylor’s behalf when he decided to move on from the rematch. It left a bad taste in the collective mouths of fans and pundits. A second fight between Taylor and Catterall could occur later this year or early in 2024. The hope is that Taylor backs up his words and faces Catterall again. It’s a fight that’s long overdue.
