Coming off a clear decision win over Jose Ramirez in May in which he captured the undisputed junior welterweight championship, Josh Taylor felt as though he was on top of the world.
Taylor was expected to take care of mandatory challenger Jack Catterall on Saturday (as a -1,300 betting favorite, according to Caesars Sportsbook), and then pursue a fight at 147 pounds against Terence Crawford, ESPN’s No. 2 pound-for-pound boxer.
Well, Taylor did get past Catterall on Saturday in Glasgow, Scotland, but just barely, by split decision. The general sentiment on social media was that Taylor received a gift decision for the hometown boxer. One judge scored it for Catterall, 113-112, overruled by 114-111 and 113-112 tallies in Taylor’s favor.
Taylor struggled during the first half of the bout and was dropped in Round 8, before he closed the fight strong. The 31-year-old said afterward that this, “most likely will be my last fight at 140.”
Following the lackluster performance, Taylor can surely forget about heading directly into a title fight with Crawford.
Catterall was able to time Taylor with precise overhand lefts, and he used that shot to floor the champion in Round 8. The challenger showed impressive ring intelligence; he was able to stand outside of range and time the hard-charging Taylor with counter punches.
The 28-year-old Englishman was dismissed as a routine, homecoming title defense for Taylor, and with good reason. Taylor, through just 18 fights, owned one of the best resumes in boxing, with victories over Ramirez, Regis Prograis, Ivan Baranchyk and Viktor Postol.
Catterall, on the other hand, was once lauded as a top prospect but had never competed on the elite level as a professional. Against Taylor, he proved he’s a serious player in the 140-pound division, a weight class that figures to soon have four available titles up for grabs once Taylor vacates.
No, Catterall isn’t a champion yet, but he could be in short order. And a once top-heavy division now shapes up as a weight class that will feature plenty of parity. Besides the arrival of Catterall, there’s also Ramirez, who returns to action in six days in a tough matchup against Jose Pedraza. The undefeated Gary Antuanne Russell (Gary Russell Jr.’s brother), who was set to fight Postol in a step-up fight later in the day on Saturday.
There’s the dangerous volume-puncher Subriel Matias, and Prograis remains one of the elite fighters at 140 pounds. The junior welterweight division will soon welcome former undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez Jr. as well, as he comes off his first career defeat. With all the titles soon to be available, other lightweight fighters like Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia, who have hinted at a five-pound jump in the future, could be coaxed to make that move a little sooner than expected.
Taylor, meanwhile, failed to impress on the heels of his breakthrough performance. He’ll see his stock fall, and it will surely be reflected in the next ESPN pound-for-pound rankings, where he currently ranks No. 7. He’ll have a chance to shake off the performance in a new weight class, but that opportunity will now likely come vs. a confidence-building opponent rather than the top welterweight in the world. — Mike Coppinger
What comes next for Josh Taylor, after this disputed decision win?
Taylor’s lackluster performance against Catterall has left doubts about the immediate impact he can make at welterweight. This was hardly the statement performance to ramp up demand for Taylor to be matched against the world’s welterweight elite, or a performance to even mildly worry the welterweight elite.
Taylor has talked about stepping up a weight division for bigger fights against current champions Crawford and Errol Spence Jr., but taking on a former champion might be the better option for later this year.
Kell Brook, fresh off an impressive stoppage win over Amir Khan which opened up the possibility of extending his career, is perhaps the most obvious option for Taylor next — if Brook can be persuaded to box on.
Brook, 35, the former IBF welterweight champion, seemed unconvinced he need to put his body through the torture of making 147 pounds once more after he stopped English rival Khan last weekend. Young promoter Ben Shalom, of BOXXER, put on Brook vs. Khan last weekend, while Taylor’s controversial win over Catterall was a co-promotion between BOXXER and Top Rank, Taylor’s U.S. promoter. Brook is a strong welterweight and despite the defeats to Spence and Crawford, he showed recently that when he is motivated he is still a dangerous fighter. Brook’s presence at ringside in Glasgow for Taylor’s latest fight will only increase speculation of a Battle of Britain clash later this year.
“Let me just have a bit of time off,” Brook said Saturday, from ringside at Taylor vs. Catterall.
England’s Conor Benn is another option that would sell well in the United Kingdom, and Taylor might be attracted to that fight because of the gulf in top-level experience.
Failing those two options at home, Taylor will be placing faith in himself to regain his form from last year if he takes on some of the welterweight’s top names in the U.S.
Crawford’s recent lawsuit against Top Rank raises doubts about the likelihood of Taylor vs. Crawford. If it happens, Crawford, the WBO champion, starts as a big favorite. Spence, the WBC and IBF champion, faces WBA titleholder Yordenis Ugas in a unification bout on April 16 and like Crawford, Spence is an established welterweight and an elite pound-for-pound fighter.
Knockout machine Vergil Ortiz Jr. is due to face England’s Michael McKinson March 19 at USC’s Galen Center in Los Angeles. Ortiz, 23, would be a dangerous first fight for Taylor at welterweight. Top contender Jaron Ennis is another young and fast rising welterweight who bangs.
If this fight leads to some deeper reassessment of the move to 147, Lopez could be on the table as another fighter promoted by Top Rank. But just as Lopez lost his desire to continue to make 135, Taylor seems unlikely to stay at junior welterweight to make that fight happen. Lopez lost his four lightweight titles to George Kambosos Jr. in November.
Along those same lines, you can almost certainly rule out a rematch with Catterall.
“I made the weight pretty well but it is getting harder to make the weight and most likely that is most likely my last fight at 140,” Taylor said. “I don’t think there’s any need for a rematch, I think I won the fight by a couple of rounds. I won the fight in the second half of the fight, I took over, he was doing a hell of a lot of holding and spoiling.”
Not that it is any consolation, but after boxing so fluently Catterall is likely to get a world title shot again when Taylor gives up the belts. Catterall had been WBO mandatory challenger since 2019, and Liam Paro and Lopez could be options. Catterall can be crowned champion if he is matched with Paro, but will find it tougher against the likes of former champions Ramirez and Prograis.
Catterall is no longer under the radar after a clever performance against Taylor, and in defeat, he will find more opportunities come his way. But it won’t take the sting out of the way the undisputed junior welterweight championship slipped through his hands.
“You are talking about a kid who has worked hard all his life, who beats a champion in his own backyard and is robbed,” Jamie Moore, Catterall’s trainer, said after the Taylor fight. “It is disgusting. Jack is heartbroken.” — Nick Parkinson