WBO junior welterweight champion Josh ‘The Tartan Tornado’ Taylor 19-0 (13) has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled March 4 rematch against Jack ‘El Gato’ Catterall 26-1 (13) after suffering a foot injury.
The 32-year-old Scottish southpaw tore the plantar fascia in his foot, a tissue that connects the heel bone to the base of the toes and supports the arch of the foot.
Taylor defeated Catterall by contentious split decision last February and has been adamant ever since that he wants he wants to face the 29-year-old British southpaw again to remove any doubt that he is the better boxer.
Taylor, who defended his Ring magazine and undisputed 140-pound world championships against Catterall the first time round, abdicated his WBC, WBA and IBF titles in the wake of the fight in order to pursue the rematch.
The pair were expected to lock horns again late last year before a knee injury sustained by Taylor pushed the return bout back to 2023.
But despite his bad run of luck with injuries, there are still some fans who think that Taylor is trying to swerve the rematch.
Taylor told BBC Scotland: “I’ve made a lot of sacrifices to make this fight happen. People saying I’m scared and this and that. It’s absolute nonsense. If I was scared, I wouldn’t have been undisputed world champion. I’m scared to fight no-one.
“I’ve made a lot of sacrifices to make this fight happen. I didn’t have to do this fight. I could have gone on to much bigger fights and got offered much bigger fights, a lot more lucrative opportunities.
“I turned them down to do this to prove that it was just a bad performance and I am still the best fighter on the planet in my weight class.”
The current injury occurred while Taylor was sparring and will keep him out of the gym for up to six weeks while it heels. The earliest he is likely to be able to return to the prize ring is late May or early June.
Taylor expects the rematch to still be available to him when he returns, but also noted that Catterall will likely take an interim fight after a year out of the ring.
“I don’t think the fight is going to go anywhere,” he said. “I wouldn’t expect Jack to sit around and wait for me to get better.
“He’s got a career to pursue as well. I would expect him to go and try and get another fight for the time being.
“I think the interest in that rematch will always be there as long as we’re both still winning and he doesn’t get beaten by anyone.
“I think, if he boxes anyone in the top 10, the guys I’ve boxed previously, he gets beaten off them.
“Even then, I still think that rematch is still there at some point because there will be interest in it.”
