Old rivals Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall squared off in a rematch at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England on Saturday, May 25. The contest featured the former undisputed super lightweight champion of Scotland up against the former world title challenger of the UK.
Taylor took the victory against Catterall via a controversial split decision in February 2022. Their second fight also went the full distance. After 12 rounds, the scores were 117-111, 117-111 and 116-113, all in favor of the representative of the country-host.
With the victory by unanimous decision, 30-year-old Jack Catterall of Chorley, Lancashire improved to 29-1, 13 KOs and avenged his sole career defeat.
“It’s bittersweet tonight,” Catterall said. “No world titles. I won the fight. We can close that chapter with Josh Taylor. Listen, I believe I won the fight. I took more risks this time. Josh is an elite operator, [former] undisputed world champion. We knew we were up against it, but I went through the gears, boxed with my smarts, and even in the second half of the fight, the rounds that I was more reserved, I was controlling the pace and wasn’t getting hit with big punches. And I was landing clean.”
Josh Taylor of Edinburgh, Scotland dropped to 19-2, 13 KOs and lost the second fight in a row.
“I thought it was a great fight. Fair play to Jack. He was a better fighter than the first fight,” Taylor said. “But, listen, I thought I just nicked the fight, to be fair. If he wants to go and challenge for bigger fights, he deserves it. But it’s one apiece, so let’s do it. Let’s do a trilogy.”
Both promoters, Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn and Top Rank’s Bob Arum agreed that two 117-111 scores were way too wide. However, they disagreed on the announced winner.