EL GATO GAINS SWEET REVENGE IN LEEDS

819 days…

That’s how long had passed since the controversial first fight between Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall in 2022 but my word, the rematch was worth the wait.

On Saturday night, we FINALLY got to see them go at it for a second time and boy did it deliver.

After a couple of rowdy press conferences, the fight week shenanigans between the pair were fairly low-key.

A couple of words exchanged at the presser along with a little neck tickle from Catterall, it was fairly clear these were two lads on a mission, and neither was willing to do anything that might put the fight in jeopardy.

They both hit the scales under the 140lbs limit, and both looked in impeccable shape.

Ladies and gentlemen, we had a fight.

Catterall established his jab nice and early, finding a home for it on Taylor’s head. The Scotsman chose to target the body but that was leaving Catterall with openings to land the chopping left hook which he took advantage of to win the first two rounds quite comfortably.

In the third, Taylor started to shift the momentum and make Catterall fight it at his pace, something which he barely managed to do in the first fight.

However, Catterall quickly gained back the momentum in the fourth with his arrow-like jab jolting the head of Taylor back at will.

With Catterall now in the ascendency, he started sitting down on his shots and clearly hurt Taylor a couple of times which forced him to take a step back. However, the former undisputed champion once against changed the momentum when heading into the second half of the fight.

Catterall looked fatigued and Taylor was in no mood to give him a breather, with the Scot beginning to roll back the years.

But, as the fight continued to ebb and flow, El Gato was starting to pick Taylor off with some elite-level counter punching. They were heavy shots which were causing damage.

As the championship rounds arrived, you got the impression it was Taylor chasing the fight.

After fairly even 11th and 12th round, which could quite easily have gone either way, we went to the judges’ scorecards and, shock horror, more controversy.

117-111, 117-111 & 116-113 were the scorecards read out. Catterall had done it.

Two years of heartache had finally, to a degree, been treated. He’d avenged the only loss of his career, albeit with no belts on the line.

The scorecards were greeted with an air of dismay from the crowd. Most notably, Bob Arum, who grabbed the mic and went on a rant Delia Smith would have been proud of.

Was it a contest where either fighter won by 117-111? No, quite frankly.

However, unlike the first fight, a majority believed that on this occasion, the right man had his hand raised.

So, what next?

Well after a fight like that, you’d do well to find any boxing fan who would be against seeing a trilogy.

This is a legit rivalry and despite respect between both inside of the ring immediately after the fight, it’s one that has more than enough legs to turn into a trilogy and maybe, just maybe, a stadium fight.

However, Catterall has world title aspirations, and if he chooses to pursue that dream, nobody can blame him.

For Taylor, his career isn’t over. He looked very good at times and showed he still has enough in the tank to compete at the highest level.

He’s done it all at super-lightweight so if Catterall does go down a different route, don’t be surprised to see him target a fight with the likes of Conor Benn or Jaron Ennis up at 147lbs.

One thing we need to do is give both men huge credit.

It took a while, but they didn’t hide away from this rematch, and it turned out to be one of the best fights we will witness this year.

Two warriors who are a huge credit to British boxing.

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