Eight months on from his controversial win against Jack Catterall, former undisputed super-lightweight champion Josh Taylor has agreed to give the Englishman a rematch with a date pencilled in.
‘The Tartan Tornado’ won the original bout back in February and, in doing so, made his first successful defence of his undisputed title. The vast majority of viewers and fighters alike had Catterall comfortably ahead on the scorecards, but the judges viewpoint differed and Taylor walked away with his belts and retained his unbeaten record.
Since then, Taylor had received criticism from some for intending to step up to the welterweight division and seemingly avoiding Catterall. But, to his credit, he’s has decided to remain at the weight in order to silence the doubters.
However, this time around there will be one distinct difference – in the time between his fight with Catterall, Taylor has been forced to vacate both his WBC, WBA and IBF world titles, for not taking on his mandatory challengers. This means that the only reason for Taylor to stay at 140lb, is to settle his fierce rivalry with Catterall once and for all, luckily for the fans.
ESPN’s Mike Coppinger reports how terms have been agreed for the rematch to take place on February 4th. Taylor still maintains that he won the original fight fair and square, but a change in trainer from Ben Davison to Joe McNally suggests that Taylor may have been concerned with his below-par performance.
Only time will tell as to whether this will be a wise decision from Taylor and whether he can still cope with the 140lb weight limit. Meanwhile, Jack Catterall will be seeking justice after being on the wrong end of what many saw as a robbery.
It’s one of the first domestic fights that has been announced for next year and it will undoubtedly be one of the standout British fights of 2023.