Josh Taylor says Teofimo Lopez tougher fight than Catterall

By Boxing News - 03/02/2023 - Comments

By Barry Holbrook: Josh Taylor says he feels that Teofimo Lopez is the tougher and more talented opponent than Jack Catterall, who fans have been giving him grief about since their fight last year.

WBO light welterweight champion Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs) says he still intends on giving Catterall a rematch after he defeats Teofimo in June or whenever they fight.

Taylor says he would have given Catterall a rematch, but he got injured, and then the World Boxing Organization ordered him to defend against his mandatory Teofimo. Since Josh had already vacated his IBF, WBA & WBC 140-lb titles, he didn’t want to give up his WBO belt and be left with nothing.

So whether he wants to or not, he has no choice but to defend against the former unified lightweight champion Teofimo first to keep his WBO belt.

Prograis vs. Catterall possible

Catterall could be challenging WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis next, and there are a lot of doubts about how successful he’ll be in that fight.

If Catterall gets knocked out by Prograis, which is highly probable, that will take away much of Taylor’s incentive for wanting to give him a rematch.

Without Catterall avenging his loss to Prograis, it would be almost pointless for Taylor to fight him again because why would he defend his WBO 140-lb title against a fighter coming off a knockout loss to another champion?

“I was given an email from the WBO, telling me that I’ve been mandated to fight Teofimo Lopez, so here we are,” said Josh Taylor talkSPORT Boxing.

“The guy isn’t very intelligent, Jack. The guy always seems to want to fight me when I’m not at my best. I don’t know why he wants to fight me when I’m injured. He knows when I’m at my best; he won’t be able to beat me.

“It’s absurd that he thinks I don’t want to fight him. I vacated all my belts to fight him. I’m left with the WBO, and I thought, ‘Let’s go,’ and then I get an injury. You can’t help getting injured.

“The WBO came and said I have to fight my mandatory [Teofimo Lopez]. I don’t want to lose all my belts. I’m still the king of the division. I have one belt left; I want to keep it. I’m not going to give it up, am I?

“The fight with Catterall will happen at some point, don’t worry about that. I want to put all the doubts to bed. I know I’m levels above them, and I’ve proven that when I’m at my best. But 100%, we’re going to do that again,  but right now, it’s not about Jack Catterall.

“Right now, it’s Teofimo Lopez, who, in my opinion, is a much better fighter than Jack Caterall. He’s a tougher fighter, he comes to fight, and he’s a better fighter. It’s a tougher fight.

“Online, I get it, but in person, I don’t get it,” said Taylor when asked if people come up to him and say that Catterall beat him. “It’s not about Jack Catterall at the moment. It’s about Teofimo Lopez. Why am I thinking about Jack Catterall when I’ve got a tougher fight in front of me?

“I will beat him. How many times have I said I will fight him again?” said Taylor about Catterall.

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