Former undisputed light welterweight champion Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall will meet in a almost pointless rematch on April 27th on DAZN and ESPN+.
It’ll be interesting to see if the event draws ratings from U.S. fans, as there’s not a lot of interest from them in seeing either of these two in a rematch past its sell-by date. It seems like a wrong-headed idea that the promoters should have scrapped.
The Rematch That Lost Its Luster
Most around agree that these two should have fought their rematch in 2022 after Taylor’s controversial decision split decision win in Glasgow, Scotland, but fans have zero interest in this albatross.
Taylor is no longer a relevant fighter, and Catterall has been pushed down the rankings due to his loss, the weak opposition faced, and the rise of arguably far more talented contenders.
Catterall hasn’t helped himself since that defeat by fighting weak opposition, beating Darragh Foley and 38-year-old Jorge Linares. These are the wrong types of opposition to fight if you’re trying to show you belong at the top of the division.
You couldn’t put Catterall in with Gary Antuanne Russell, Jamaine Ortiz, or Teofimo Lopez and expect him to win. The same goes for Josh Taylor. More talented fighters have passed these guys up.
Fighters on the Decline
The cumulative effect is the Taylor-Catterall is useless and a bad idea for the promoters. With that said, they got to do something with these two fighters, so it makes sense for the promoters to put them in with each other, considering you can’t match either of them, any of those talented fighters at 140 without them losing, and they don’t rate world title shots.
The boxing world sees this fight as more of a local-level match-up rather than one that is viewed as world-class, as the 33-year-old has fought just once in the last two years and was totally humiliated by Teofimo Lopez last year in a one-sided 12-round decision.
Bitter Memories and Lost Chances
Catterall, 30, is still pretty bitter about his loss to Taylor in 2022, which cost him the chance of becoming the undisputed 140-lb champion. However, even if Catterall had won the fight, he’d likely have lost his titles by now.
There are too many talented fighters like Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, Gary Antuanne Russell, and Arnold Barboza Jr. that would have dethroned him almost immediately.