By William Lloyd: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says newly undisputed light welterweight champion Josh Taylor will fight his WBO mandatory Jack Catterall (26-0, 13 KOs) next, followed by Terence Craword.
Taylor beat Jose Ramirez by a 12 round unanimous decision last Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada, to become the undisputed champion at 140.
#1 WBO Catterall agreed to step aside to allow Taylor (18-0, 13 KO) to face WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Jose Ramirez (26-1, 17 KOs) last Saturday night for the undisputed 140-lb championship.
Taylor doesn’t want to vacate his IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO light welterweight titles so soon after capturing them. As a result, the 27-year-old Catterall will be next.
Taylor vs. Catterall will play well over in the UK, as both guys are from there. It won’t do as well in the U.S because the American boxing fans have seen nothing of Catterall.
His fights have been in the UK, and he’s not fought anyone of note. Catterall’s best wins have come against Ohara Davies and Tyrone McKenna.
“I got to talk to Josh to see what he wants to do,” said Bob Arum to Fighthype when asked about what Josh Taylor wants to do for his next fight. “Fighters are the boss.
First, he has to fight Catterall, and then if he wants to move up and fight Terence, we can arrange that. If he wants to wait and fight Teofimo, we can arrange that.
Assuming Taylor beats Catterall, Arum wants to match him against WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs). However, Arum also mentioned the possibility of Taylor facing Teofimo Lopez. If that fight happens, Taylor would be staying at 140 to defend his four titles.
There might be more interest from U.S boxing fans in a fight between Taylor and Teofimo than a match with Crawford.
The unbeaten Teofimo (16-0, 12 KOs) is excellent at attracting interest in his fights with his interviews and social media presence. That’s something that is missing from Crawford, who prefers to take a lower profile.
Taylor, 30, would obviously be better off vacating his WBO title so that he could avoid taking a low-level fight against Catterall that the boxing world has zero interest in fighting. It’s doubtful that Taylor will do that, though, because he gains more stature by holding all the belts at 140.
Besides Teofimo Lopez and Crawford, boxing fans want to see Josh Taylor fight these guys:
- Regis Prograis
- Gervonta Davis
- Devin Haney
- Ryan Garcia
- Errol Spence Jr
- Manny Pacquiao
Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis would be an excellent option for Josh Taylor, as he’s on the verge of picking up the WBA ‘regular’ light welterweight title against champion Mario Barrios next month on June 26th.
If Tank can beat Barrios, a match between him and Taylor would be the ideal fight to make.
Gervonta has already said that he’s interested in fighting Taylor, but we’ll have to see if he still feels this way after seeing him last Saturday.
“It was a great fight, the judges were spot on, they had it six rounds to six, and the two knockdowns were the difference,” said Bob Arum to Boxing Social. “I thought it was very, very good,” said Arum when asked if Taylor exceeded his expectations.
“I think Josh has to fight Catterall, so we’ll probably do that fight over in the UK. Then maybe put him in with Terence Crawford,” said Arum.
“Everybody is friends, but we’re going to do it [Taylor vs. Catterall] when we can get spectators in London or Glasgow,” Arum continued about Josh’s next fight against his WBO mandatory Catterall.
“It’s silly to rush in if they say 90 days if you can wait another 30 days and get it with spectators,” said Arum.
