Former undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh ‘The Tartan Tornado’ Taylor 19-1 (13) is willing to revisit a rematch with Jack ‘El Gato’ Catterall 27-1 (13).
The pair shared a ring in Glasgow, Scotland in February last year when Taylor scraped by split decision to retain his WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF 140-pound titles by scores of 112-113, 114-111 and 113-112.
Their rematch was repeatedly delayed before it was abandoned altogether with British southpaw Catterall, 30, moving on to defeat Darragh Foley 22-5-1 (10) over 10 in May and Scottish lefty Taylor, 32, dropping a unanimous decision to former WBA, WBO and IBF lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez 19-1 (13) last month.
Taylor outlined his future plans to The Daily Record.
“I’ll be out before the end of the year again, hopefully October or November time,” Taylor said. “I’ll do what’s best for me. In the last two years after the Jose Ramirez fight I’ve made deals to please other people. So, it’s time to get back to being selfish again and doing what’s best for me.
“I’ll go down this week to Liverpool, get all my tests done and go over what went well and what went wrong in the Lopez fight. There were a lot of factors in that camp, things that didn’t go my way. I went into the fight when I maybe shouldn’t have. I should have delayed it four or five weeks.”
Taylor has long been linked to the lucrative welterweight division but says he is open to all options at both 140- and 147-pounds.
“We’ll see what options are there and what fights I get offered whether at 140 or 147,” Taylor said.
“The Catterall fight will be getting revisited again hopefully sooner rather than later. I want it again, just to shut most people up. That will definitely happen again before I retire, that’s for sure. If I stay at 140 then my next fight isn’t going to be a championship fight so it won’t be championship weight anyway.
“That will work in my favour. But I can still make the weight. I made the weight in New York perfectly, better than at any time in the last few years. So the weight wasn’t an excuse. We’ll see what happens going forward whether it’s at 140 or 147 or switching between the two.
“Unless I get someone like Regis Prograis who still wants his rematch as well. That could be another title fight at 140. I need to speak to promoters to see what fights are out there and what’s going to be offered to me. I’ve already had half a path carved out for the route we’re going to take when I move up to 147. So we’ll speak to the lads and the promoters and see what’s happening.”
The October timeline would fit in perfectly for Catterall, who also want to return to action that month according to his advisor Sam Jones.
“I’m just saying from a boxing fan’s perspective everybody wants to see Josh Taylor against Jack Catterall,” Jones told iFL TV. “If he doesn’t want to box, no problem, good luck with the rest of your career. Get on with it. But if you want to make the fight, let’s do it right now.
“Josh vacated all his belts. Jack had a situation he had to sort out to make the fight. They both played their parts to make the fight happen, then [Taylor] pulled out and did something else.
“Listen, I really respect Josh Taylor the fighter, I really do. I say it with a very straight face. I respect him lots, but if he wants to make the fight, there is nothing stopping the fight from happening.
“Jack wanted a world title fight and he prioritised that over any fight because he wants to become world champion. Everybody is tied at the moment, let’s make the fucking fight.”
