Josh Taylor suffered a second successive defeat after Jack Catterall won by unanimous decision, with boxing promoter Eddie Hearn believing “justice had been served”. Although there was no chance of winning the belts in their rematch, Catterall admitted he could close the “Josh Taylor chapter” after two years of waiting to see him again.
Many fans believed that Catterall should have won against Taylor back in 2022, but this time the judges ruled in Jack’s favor when their rematch was very hard.
“It’s bittersweet, not having a world title,” Catterall said after his victory when Taylor lost his belts to Teofimo Lopez last June. Catterall, however, had two years to change his approach and said: “I took a bigger risk this time, I knew I was up against it.”
Catterall made an impressive start to the rematch, calling the shots in the first round with a powerful jab that landed with several pointed left hooks. Taylor was tentative and unsteady, unable to find his range. The second stanza was more even, with each fighter having their moments on either side of a nasty clash of heads that left both fighters fearing they had suffered a cut only for the referee to allay their fears.
Taylor dominated the third round with a large left hand that put Catterall on his back foot, although the Chorley man kept the Scot straightforward with his bits of good work. However, the tide returned in Catterall’s favor in rounds four and five, hitting his opponent with pristine shots as Taylor stumbled into the ropes and the crowd at the First Direct Arena rose to their feet.
Catterall appeared tired in the seventh round and resorted to counter-attacking mode, risking taking massive shots, but was quick to return fire once caught. Taylor came close to winning a decision when Catterall landed the best shot of the fight in round 11, catching his opponent with a sturdy left hand that almost knocked him down.
When the pair crumpled and fell to the ground, it gave Taylor valuable time to recover as his legs weakened, and Catterall failed to capitalize on this advantage tardy in the round. The championship round then became a tumultuous one before a flurry of shots broke out in the last minute, with both men choosing to celebrate after the final bell, deciding they had done enough.
The eagerly anticipated rematch was delayed for a month after Taylor injured his eye during sparring. The former undisputed lightweight champion scored a controversial victory in his first fight of 2022, earning the nod by split decision, while many onlookers felt that in Glasgow the vastly underdog Catterall was the clear winner, dropping Taylor to the canvas and the ‘Tartan Tornado’ was rightly counted out .
Taylor would lose the titles in his next fight, suffering a unanimous decision loss to Teofimo Lopez in Recent York last year. Meanwhile, Catterall responded to the massive defeat with point wins over Darragh Foley and Jorge Linares.
Fans already want a trilogy fight, but both Catterall and Taylor dismissed any discussion during their third post-fight meeting. Taylor said he “respects” Catterall but has no interest in seeing him again.