By Charles Brun: Undisputed light welterweight champion Josh Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs) suffered a knee injury in camp, resulting in his title defense against #1 WBO Jack Catterall (26-0, 13 KOs) has now been postponed to February 26th at The SSE Hydro, in Glasgow, Scotland.
The Taylor-Catterall fight had been scheduled for December 18th at The SSE Hydro, but the match will need to be delayed by two months.
Unfortunately, there’s no way of knowing for certain whether Taylor’s knee problem will be healed by February 26th. With a knee problem, Taylor might not see action for quite some time if he suffers a setback in rehabbing it.
Josh Taylor is upset
“I’m gutted I won’t be able to defend my title on December 18 as originally planned, but I wanted to make sure I was 100 percent healthy to give my incredible fans the show they deserve,” said Taylor on Twitter.
“This homecoming has been a long time in the making, and it will be worth the wait. I will see everyone on February 26.”
This is obviously frustrating for Taylor because this is a simple title defense and not one that boxing fans are calling.
Catterall brings nothing to the table in terms of a name or the ability to make it competitive. It’s a mismatch against a local domestic level lad.
The injury for Taylor will delay his plans to defend his four belts against Teofimo Lopez in April 2022, and him moving up to 147 to challenge WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford.
If the Taylor vs. Catterall fight does take place on the rescheduled date of February 26th, it’ll be shown on ESPN+ app in the States, and on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom.
Again, it’s a huge disappointment that this fight is being dragged out because he’s not a huge one.
It’s on the level of Teofimo Lopez’s title defense against George Kambosos Jr. Teofimo has been trying to get this fight out of the way for the last four months and it STILL hasn’t happened.
As long as Taylor’s knee responds to treatment, he should be able to return to the ring on February 26th to get this fight out of the way against the unbeaten Catterall.
Catterall not expected to give Taylor problems
It’s too bad that Taylor’s mandatory isn’t a talented contender like Jose Ramirez, Regis Prograis, Shakhram Giyasov, Gary Antuanne Russell, or Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. If it was one of those guys, boxing fans would at least have something to look forward to on February 26th.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Josh Taylor said in thinking positive. “I will remain professional and continue working for the new date. 2022, I will be world champion.”
Of course, Taylor will still be world champion after fighting Catterall. This isn’t a competitive fight. It’s a throwaway, a match in which a contender has been given an inflated ranking by the World Boxing Organization.
Catterall should have had to fight one of the quality contenders to earn a title shot as the WBO mandatory. Earning the mandatory spot with a victory over Oscar Davies was too easy. The WBO should have ordered Catterall to face Prograis, Russell, Tank, Giyasov, or Ramirez.