Josh Taylor will welcome Jack Catterall back to Scotland for a world title rematch in Glasgow this March, BOXXER promoter Ben Shalom has confirmed.
The Scot took a very controversial decision when the pair met at the Hydro in Glasgow back in February, putting an end to Catterall's hopes of an upset victory to become undisputed at super-lightweight. The Englishman was a big underdog heading into the bout, but dropped the champion in an explosive battle in his home country.
And despite the pair agreeing to a rematch, the stakes won't be the same this time around after Taylor gave up three of his four belts due to inability to meet mandatory requirements. Now, the winner will just be WBO champion, after Regis Prograis and Alberto Puello scooped up the WBA and WBC belts, while the IBF is vacant.
"We’ve been working on it for a few months, but I can now officially announce that both fighters have signed for the fight," Shalom told talkSPORT on Thursday. “The fight date [in March] is locked in and it’ll be announced in the next week or so. It’s imminent and it will be in Glasgow, back at the scene of the crime.
"And I think it could be one of the most significant fights in British boxing for a long time because of what happened. Josh Taylor could have gone on to other things, but decided, ‘You know what? I’m going to put this wrong right’. Fair play to him and Jack Catterall gets the opportunity that I think the whole nation feels like he deserves.”
Who do you feel won the first fight between Jack Catterall and Josh Taylor? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Initially, Taylor seemed to be confident that he had won the fight with his performance in the first bout, despite multiple experts and fellow fighters believing he'd lost. The major issue that irked viewers was the one scorecard that gave him a wide 114-111 victory, where the other judges had the scores at a razor-close 113-112 each way.
"It wasn't my best performance and I've put a lot of pressure on myself being heavy favourite and boxing back at home," Taylor explained on the night. "But once I started catching him, I believe I got the win 100 per cent. I know I won the fight. Overall, I scored the bigger shots and the more meaningful shots. He put up a good fight, but he never won the fight. [In the] Second half of the fight, I took control."
