The battle to be the best at 140lbs is apparently on. WBO No.1 contender Jack Catterall has officially stepped aside to allow the hotly anticipated unification battle between WBA Super/IBF king Josh Taylor and WBO/WBC champion Jose Ramirez to take place.
Chorley’s Catterall, the WBO’s long-term mandatory challenger, has been told he will receive a shot at the winner after accepting a financial settlement.
“The unification will go ahead, subject to the winner fighting Jack, so Jack can fight for all those belts,” Catterall’s promoter Frank Warren told BT Sport.
“I fancy Josh Taylor to beat Ramirez and, of he does, him and Jack, what a fight that will be in this country.
“[Jack] wants to fight for the title, he was pressing hard for it. But he has to look at the bigger picture. And the bigger picture is it does make sense because there will be all the belts on the line [against the Taylor-Ramirez winner].”
Taylor (17-0, 13 KOs) was last in action in September, blowing away IBF mandatory challenger Apinun Khongsong inside a round whilst Ramirez (26-0, 17 KOs) scraped by on the cards against WBC No.1 contender Viktor Postol in August.
Southpaw Catterall (25-0, 13 KOs) has been out of action for 11 months following a comfortable points win over Timo Schwarzkopf in Dubai last November.