Former undisputed and current WBO Super Lightweight Champion, Josh Taylor, has slammed promoter Ben Shalom for the collapse of his potential rematch with Jack Catterall.
Taylor and Catterall shared one of the most heated rivalries in the UK in recent memory after a first fight where many believe Catterall had done enough to defeat the unbeaten Scotsman despite not getting the nod on the night.
Since then, the British public have been calling for a rematch and it seemed like they would get their wishes on March 4 until Taylor had to pull out of the fight due to an injury.
In an interview with talkSPORT, ‘The Tartan Tornado’ claims Caterall’s promoter’s impatience has been the death of the fight.
“I saw that he is fighting on the 25th March, so it’s like well, you’ve moved on from the fight, not myself. If I’m Ben Shalom, I’m going to focus on this fight [rematch with Taylor], it’s one of the biggest in the UK, by far.”
“Instead of going away and focusing on getting another date locked in and bolted in and loaded in, he has went away and got Jack another fight. They’ve moved on from the fight, Jack is fighting someone else, what am I meant to do? Sit there and wait on Jack?”
“I then got an email on the Monday, from the WBO, saying that I have been mandated to fight Teofimo Lopez. So it is like, well that is out of my hands, that is completely out of my hands, if anybody is to blame it is Ben Shalom for not getting it [a new fight date] nailed in.”
“Ben Shalom has done his own fighter out of a mega fight.”
It now seems that Taylor will fight Teofimo Lopez later this year as per Sky Sports.
Now, with that fight in the works and the undefeated champion previously eyeing a move up in weight, fans will be left wondering if a rematch with Catterall will ever take place.