TIME TO FORGET
Jack Catterall headlines Matchroom’s Saturday show at Liverpool’s Echo Arena as he continues on his warpath to boxing justice. It has been a long 18 months since he should have been crowned undisputed world champion, and, for us as well as him, maybe it is time to forget.
That fateful night in Glasgow has come to be one that defines Catterall’s 11-year career so far. In many ways, it’s understandable as this was misappropriation of the highest order.
No doubt a mentally difficult place to be for Catterall. Whilst he was saluted as the number one, he had nothing to show for it. As for the ‘rematch’, well, that was a saga in itself.
However, retribution has to be the last thing on the mind of Catterall and team. Josh Taylor is no longer champion, and non-title revenge would mean deviating from a long-term goal.
That goal is one that with patience and performance will soon end up as an opportunity in a wealthy 140lb division. But first, a chance to step through the ropes with a modern legend.
Jorge Linares.
The former three-weight world champion returns to British shores this Saturday, looking to restore life to a career fading into the twilight. Last chance saloon, as it’s otherwise known.
In fact, if Britain was a saloon, then Linares is definitely a regular. Three previous world title trips have returned great success for the Venezuelan. We are, if anything, a friendly foe.
But the man who broke boxing hearts by stopping Kevin Mitchell in 2015, before doubling up on Anthony Crolla just two years later, has faded into the archives.
Time waits for no man, and for Linares that clock has been ticking hastily over the past few years. He may well be a fighter closer to the Hall of Fame than he is his best days.
Still, don’t be fooled. This isn’t a fighter here to lie down. If anything, the idea of hanging up the gloves is enough to trigger one final push.
Maybe we will get the high-velocity, courageous, dicey Linares that, in his own violently charming way, won many a fan during his beatings of the Brits.
If that is the case, then Catterall will have a serious fight on his hands. Granted, three consecutive losses hardly screams a fighter in form, but form is temporary, class is permanent.
And it’s class that is etched in Linares.
Needless to say, it doesn’t fall short of Catterall either. Slick, plucky, and almighty talented, this is a fighter who belongs amongst the upper ranks.
Boys, we could have a cracker on our hands.
In London, meanwhile, a week that all involved with Boxxer may want to forget.
What started as the weekend’s centrepiece has ended up an object of ridicule as Joshua Buatsi vs Dan Azeez was postponed, rescheduled, and the undercard moved to York Hall.
A crazy turn of events, but in Mikael Lawal vs Isaac Chamberlain, boxing fans will be treated to a proper domestic dust-up for the prestigious British title.
There is bad blood, postcode rivalry, sparring stories, and just about everything that those four iconic walls of York Hall can bring to life in that ring. This WILL NOT go the stretch.
So don’t blink, because if you do, you may just miss the whole four fight card too.
Oscar Bevis.