Boxing
Catterall recalls first fight with Taylor: ‘Total meltdown of feelings’
Jack Catterall basked in what he thought was the afterglow of victory following his undisputed junior welterweight title clash with Josh Taylor in February 2022.
Catterall was paraded around the ring on the shoulders of one of his trainers, Nigel Travis, at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, after turning in a surprising career-best performance.
Catterall (28-1, 13 KO), from Lancashire, England, entered the fight unnoticed, unknown to many fight fans outside the UK. But it turned out that he knocked Taylor down in round 8 and was losing to the champion for most of the fight.
Most people thought Catterall, 30, would soon receive a decision in his first world title fight. But during the long wait to hear what the judges said, Catterall sensed something was wrong.
Controversially, the judges scored the fight in the champion’s favor by split decision (114-111, 113-112 and 112-113), with Taylor (19-1, 13 KO) from Edinburgh, Scotland, holding on to the belts. There was outrage and an investigation by British boxing authorities into the scoring and we had to wait until Saturday for the British rivals to meet again – this time with no titles on the line – at the First Direct Arena in Leeds. England.
In his own words, Catterall described to ESPN the course of the first fight with 33-year-old Taylor, his emotions accompanying that evening and his attitude before the rematch.
Preparing for battle
I remember it clearly as if it were yesterday. I went to Las Vegas to watch the undisputed title fight between Josh and Jose Ramirez, promising to pick the winner.
It was a frustrating time as I had waited over three years to fight for a world title as mandatory challenger to the WBO title. After he beat Ramirez, I thought I had a good chance of getting the fight because we were two Brits, and when my team called me and told me it was happening, I was excited to win all four world title belts in my career . first fight for the world title. Not many players have the chance to fight for all four world titles. That was a massive thing for me at that time in my career when I wasn’t getting massive fights.
I hadn’t fought for over a year, but I trained challenging and believed in my abilities. I went to the gym and prepared well for the fight. I was just trying to block out the outside noise from a lot of people, some of whom hadn’t even heard of me. During fight week, people were saying he changed weight to fight guys like Terence Crawford. It was as if I didn’t exist at all.
Fight night strategy
1:02
Josh Taylor is knocked down by Jack Catterall but manages to defend his titles
Josh Taylor is knocked down, but still manages to win and defend his titles against Jack Catterall.
It was a hostile crowd. He was fighting at home, I had to deal with it and it was my first world title fight. But I think I handled the situation and the opportunity well and performed well in the ring. I thought I won nine of the 12 rounds and knocked him down. I did everything I promised.
I put a lot of pressure on myself going into the fight to perform well and looking back, it was a massive learning experience for me, fighting someone who was the guy in the division at the time. I showed accuracy, speed and strength, but I made mistakes and worked on them.
The strategy was to nullify his tactics and close the gap. I firmly believe that timing trumps speed. It was about closing the distance between us, choosing my shots correctly, and making sure I didn’t get in his line of fire.
I’ve been watching Taylor for years. I knew what he was good at and how he liked to box. I slowed him down early with a left hook to the body and a left uppercut. I remember he came forward in the 8th round and I caught him tidy. He went for the count and looking back, I should have stepped on the gas to end the fight.
Both he and his corner seemed to get very frustrated during the fight and I heard them shouting instructions at him between rounds. I didn’t let him follow these orders. Taylor struggles with a lot of emotions, which can be good and bad. It worked against him that night.
He didn’t cause me any problems in the later rounds. Maybe I was confident enough to go on autopilot and be able to focus more on closing out the fight rather than letting him win a few rounds.
I believe I’m the better all-around player and that was the difference between us tonight. Yes, he was the undisputed champion, but I believed in my abilities. I just never had the opportunity, and he fought for the title like he did.
I have sparred with many great fighters, including Floyd Mayweather, Canelo Alvarez, Amir Khan and Kell Brook, and it was an honor to share the ring with these fighters. It was a great learning experience for me. These sparring experiences have greatly enriched my arsenal, as I showed against Taylor tonight.
This goes on the scorecards
I remember my coach Nigel Travis putting me on his shoulders as the bell rang to end the 12th round. It was a feeling of euphoria. I won all the belts in boxing. People said I wouldn’t even last two or three rounds with him.
It took ages for the scorecards to be posted and there was a strange feeling about the place. A lot of the Scottish fans were leaving while my fans were making a lot of noise. When the scorecards were read, I felt like I had descended from the top of a mountain to six feet under. It was a complete breakdown of feelings.
When the decision was announced, I looked at him and saw the shock and relief on his face. He came up and said, “I won the fight.” I just couldn’t believe it. In a later interview, he tried to convince himself and everyone that he had won the fight. He endured it terribly.
I like everything to be fair and will congratulate the winner if I lose fair and square. He said a lot of things after our fight and he had to stick to it, but I’m not sure he really believes he won the fight.
Loss of momentum
There was a lot of anger afterwards. I think there’s a photo of me on the runway, leaving the arena and going back to the locker room with my middle finger raised. I couldn’t sleep that night, so the next day I went home with my wife and petite child. There was an uproar on the Internet, but it didn’t change the outcome of the fight, and a few days later I said, “Let’s get on with it.”
If I had won the titles, it would have given me massive fights, but because of this decision I had to start over. My career has lost a lot of momentum. It was a s–show. There was a lot of pressure from the crowd to make the rematch happen. I was asked this every day. It was probably the same with Josh.
He talked about strengthening the division, then started giving up his belts and went in a different direction. There were a lot of contradictions on his part – he had weight problems, he was going to advance, but now he doesn’t. I ended up fighting and losing to Teofimo Lopez after our fight, and I thought I wouldn’t get a rematch. At that time I was also using promotional contracts, so I was in a terrible situation for some time. I signed a contract with Matchroom and was asked about a rematch as the demand was still there.
Finally a rematch
The rematch will be like our first fight, but only better for me. I’ve improved since our first fight, but he lost and didn’t look great. If you’ve fought someone once, you know each other. I expect a challenging fight, but I am sure that I will win this time.
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