DAY OF RECKONING FOR DOMESTIC RIVALS

One of the biggest rivalries in British boxing history will finally be settled this Saturday as Josh Taylor faces Jack Catterall in a rematch of their hugely controversial 2022 clash.

A fight which captured the attention of the boxing world for all the wrong reasons.

Chorley’s Catterall, regarded by many as the winner of the first fight, will be aiming to show he belongs at the elite level of 140lbs against the former undisputed king Taylor. 

Initially, this rivalry was nothing but respectful. 

Catterall stepped aside from his mandatory position with the WBO to allow Taylor to fight for the undisputed championship against Jose Ramirez, a bout he won emphatically in Las Vegas.

At that point, the relationship was so good between the pair that they shared a beer and pizza together in Taylor’s hotel room after the Scotsman had defeated Ramirez.

But that was all about to change.

The final presser for the first fight was tense, but nothing we hadn’t seen before. Words were exchanged, souls were looked into but both lads kept their hands to themselves. 

Until the weigh-in. 

Both made weight, but when it came to facing off, they went head-to-head straight away. Catterall grabbed Taylor’s neck. Taylor grabbed Catterall’s neck. And just like that, the blue touch paper had been lit.

It was on.

Going into the fight, Taylor was a massive favourite. Catterall was relatively untested and Taylor was widely regarded as the best fighter in the UK, and one of the best on the planet.

However, if there was a script for the fight, it was well and truly ripped up. 

Catterall did what many believed he couldn’t do, which was to make Taylor fight his fight. He slowed the pace down and stopped the Scot from working away on the inside, where he has enjoyed so much success previously.

In the eighth round came the big breakthrough as Catterall landed a chopping left hook which sent the reigning champ crashing to the canvas. 

Taylor beat the count and his legs were there, but he was certainly hurt.

More controversy came in the ninth when Catterall was rightly deducted a point for holding but, at that stage, it looked as though Taylor was going to need a knockout in the championship rounds.

A lack of discipline saw Taylor deducted a point for punching after the bell at the end of the 11th and following a 12th round which saw Catterall try to see the fight out whilst Taylor applied relentless pressure, the decision was left in the hands of the judges.

As the cards were read out, Taylor was declared the winner by split-decision to send the home crowd into raptures, leaving many others bemused.

The general consensus was that Catterall had won the fight and it’s easy to see why. 

The Englishman landed 47 more punches in the fight and landed less than Taylor in just one of the 12 rounds.

Ian John-Lewis, the judge who scored the fight 114-111 in favour of Taylor, was later downgraded by the BBBOfC and ultimately left the board following the decision. 

The demand for a rematch was now enormous, even more so after words were exchanged between the pair on social media. It was even brought up in the House of Commons by speaker Lindsey Hoyle.

It hadn’t just rocked the world of boxing, it had rocked the world of sport.

With the thirst for the rematch now as big as ever, it looked as though they’d finally come to blows in early 2023, but Taylor withdrew due to an injury. He then went on to defend - and subsequently lose - his undisputed championship against Teofimo Lopez.

Despite Taylor losing his belts, the rematch with Catterall was still in high demand and finally a deal was struck for the fight to take place on April 27th in Leeds.

However, more controversy was on the way when Taylor once again withdrew due to injury, meaning the fight was to be pushed back to May 25th.

It’s been a long road, but the bitter rivals are finally set to collide on Saturday night.

Both men have a point to prove.

Taylor wants to prove the first fight was simply an off night for him, whilst Catterall wants to prove he does belong in the upper echelons of the super-lightweight division.

So, how does the fight go?

Well, we need to see arguably career-best performances from both fighters. 

Taylor showed signs against Catterall in the first fight, and against Lopez, that his extensive career is slowly starting to catch up on him. But if the real Taylor turns up, Catterall is undoubtedly in for the toughest night of his career. 

Catterall is still unproven. Modest performances against Darragh Foley and Jorge Linares followed his loss to Taylor, but he is the type of fighter who rises with the level of his opponent. 

If that is the case, we could well be in for one of the fights of the year.

Either way, on Sunday morning, we’ll finally have an answer to a question that we have been repeatedly asking for the past two years…

Who is the king of the British super-lightweights?

We will soon find out.

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