(This story was originally published on MMA Junkie’s sister site BoxingJunkie. with)
Anyone ready for a third fight?
Jack Catterallwho had to accept a controversial defeat the first time he fought the then undisputed 140-pound champion Josh Taylordefeated his rival by unanimous decision in a non-title rematch on Saturday night in Leeds, England.
The official scores were 117-111, 117-111 and 116-112. Boxing Junkie scored it 115-113 for Catterall, seven rounds to five.
“Tonight is bitter and sweet,” said Catterall. “No world titles. I won the fight. We can close this chapter with Josh Taylor.”
Many believe that Catterall deserved approval at the first meeting, in February 2022, in Taylor’s native Scotland. However, Taylor won via split decision.
Few will say that Taylor was robbed on Saturday, although his US promoter, Bob Arum, called the score “a disgrace” and vowed never to bring an American fighter to the UK again.
The scoring was probably very one-sided given the competitiveness of the fight, including a number of difficult-to-score rounds.
Catterall (29-1, 13 KOs) controlled the first half of the fight, taking the action to his opponent, generally beating him to the punch and landing the harder shots.
However, Taylor, evidently aware that victory was eluding him, recovered in the second half by shifting into another gear. He matched his rival punch for punch and made him back down at times down the stretch.
Catterall landed probably the biggest blow of the night – a big left midway through round 11 that rocked Taylor – but he couldn’t finish Taylor.
In the end, Catterall’s ability to dictate the pace and land more accurate shots evidently earned him the biggest victory of his career.
He was nervous but also confident moments before the decision was announced.
“I had that feeling last time,” he said. “This time it was much faster and it was more conclusive. There was a long wait last time, but I knew I made it [on Saturday].”
Taylor (19-2, 13 KOs) was not as vociferous as Arum in his condemnation of the score, but the former champion believes the wrong man raised his hand.
“I thought I just stole the fight, to be fair,” said Taylor, who lost the title to Teofimo Lopez in his previous fight. “It was a close fight. The controversy of the first fight probably fell into the hands of the judges. …
“Listen, fair play to Jack. He won the fight. Let’s do a third one. Why not? It was a good fight.”
Catterall was later asked if he would do it again with Taylor. “Stay with Ed,” he said, nodding to promoter Eddie Hearn, who was next to him in the ring.
Hearn seemed to suggest that Catterall-Taylor III won’t come immediately. Instead, Catterall, who has never won a world title, will pursue it.
“The third fight is a big fight, but he deserves to be world champion. That has to be the focus,” he said. “We are at 140. Subriel Matias fights Liam Paro coming up. We have Devin Haney against Sandor Martin.
“I would love to see this guy challenge and rightfully win a world championship.”
