After February 26, 2022, it was inevitable that a rematch between UK adversaries Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall would occur. It has taken over two years, but last week, we learned that a second fight between the bitter rivals will take place at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, England on April 27.
Just in case you are newly following boxing, Taylor (19-1, 13KOs) of Prestonpans, near Edinburgh, Scotland, and Catterall (28-1, 13KOs) from Chorley, near Manchester, England, did battle at The Hydro in Glasgow on that February night two years ago. Taylor won a split decision, which many observers thought was highly controversial.
Since then, the two boxers have been at each other’s throats – metaphorically on social media and literally at their recent Edinburgh press conference announcing their long-awaited rematch. Catterall retains a feeling of injustice regarding the outcome of the first fight; Taylor has stood his ground and goaded the Englishman for being unable to beat him when he was far from his best.
While a Scotland versus England encounter in any sport never needs any additional hype to sell it, the strong dislike these two boxers have for one another adds an extra dimension to the upcoming rematch. Tickets for the promotion, titled “Hate Runs Strong,” were reported to have sold out within a few hours. Anticipation is high, but one thing is making me question just how competitive this fight will be… I’m wondering just what Josh Taylor has left at 140 pounds.
Josh Taylor’s Recent Outings at 140
Junior welterweight or super lightweight, call it what you like, but there’s no escaping from the fact that Taylor, known as The Tartan Tornado, has resembled more of a light breeze in his last two bouts. After both bouts – the aforementioned Catterall fight in Glasgow and a comprehensive points defeat to Teofimo Lopez in New York in June 2023 – Taylor has commented on weight-making struggles and moving up to 147 pounds.
Despite these claims, almost three years since his last good showing at the weight (defeating Jose Ramirez to become the undisputed 140-pound champion in May 2021), Taylor is once again boxing as a light welterweight. Against Catterall’s first time out, Taylor had a well-documented knee injury, which meant his preparation for that fight was far from ideal. Anyone who watched the excellent documentary Josh Taylor: Portrait of a Fighter will remember Taylor looking skeletal and ill in his hotel room as he tried to sweat off the last pound or two prior to weighing in.
It’s not ideal when, just over 24 hours later, he would be squaring up to a talented professional boxer in a highly publicized undisputed title defense.
Following his defeat to Lopez, Taylor said, “I came back after the fourth round and said to my coach, ‘My legs are gone.’ I wasn’t able to do a lot of running in camp because of my injury with my foot, and even when I got to New York, I was struggling to sleep.” Taylor may well believe this. My opinion is it was all related to killing himself, making the 140-pound weight limit.
As against Catterall, Taylor looked like a shell of the explosive, energetic fighter we had come to know during his early professional bouts and run to becoming undisputed champion. Beating Teofimo Lopez would have been hard for even the best version of Josh Taylor, but the version without legs couldn’t even make it a competitive fight.
Why Return to Junior Welterweight for the Rematch?
Only Josh Taylor can answer that question.
I suspect that, after the fallout following the first fight, Taylor wants to comprehensively defeat Jack Catterall at 140 pounds before he moves on to whatever he does next. It could be his competitive edge taking over. It could be pride. And we know what pride comes before. Additionally, Catterall has stated that the rematch is happening at 140 pounds at Josh Taylor’s insistence. “They’ve called it for 140,” Catterall said, according to BoxingScene in an article published on February 19.
He continued, “I fight at 140. To make the fight, we said we were open to a catchweight; they’ve said 140, so sweet, let’s get it on. Listen, I was more than fair in being negotiable to doing it at a catchweight – they’ve insisted 140, so that’s the way.”
To me, that’s a stunning demand from Taylor and his camp. Why punish himself by boiling down to ten stone in old money? A catchweight would have given him the flexibility of three or four pounds. But he’s now committed to making 140 on the scale once again.
Can Taylor Turn the Clock Back and Become a Force at 140 Again?
The simple answer to this question is no.
Based on the recent evidence, Taylor’s very tough run to the top of the light welterweight division looks to have taken its toll on him. We are now left with a boxer who can’t move as he once did in the ring and certainly can’t throw the volume of punches he once did. Draining his body to make weight adds an additional handicap to Taylor.
At 33 years old and having been affected by injuries in the past couple of years, Josh Taylor is a boxer whose peak has probably passed. These injuries haven’t helped Taylor’s activity. The Scotsman has only fought four times since beating Regis Prograis to win the World Boxing Super Series 140-pound tournament in October 2019. Inactivity isn’t good for any fighter. While I hope Josh Taylor can turn the clock back and have a triumphant last act, I fear that, as much as he wants to deliver that, his body won’t allow him to. If Taylor loses to Catterall on April 27, he will face serious questions regarding his boxing future.
We shall see how things play out at the end of April, but for now, thinking back over the past few years of Taylor’s career and what boxing history tells us regarding fighters who continually kill themselves to make a lighter weight class, the decision to box again at 140 may have already decided the outcome of this rematch.
With no title on the line, the catchweight option would have been the better choice for Taylor. It’s an option Taylor should have taken when it was offered to him.
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