The long overdue rematch between Josh Taylor 19-1 (13) and Jack Catterall 28-1 (13) after the former undisputed junior welterweight champion suffered a training injury.
The pair were due to meet for the second time at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England on April 27.
The bout has now been pushed back May 25 at the same venue.
“Josh Taylor has suffered an injury in training and his upcoming fight with Jack Catterall on 27 April has been postponed,” a brief statement from Matchroom Boxing read.
“The fight will now move to 25 May at the same venue in Leeds, live on DAZN.”
Catterall confirmed the news on X, formerly known as Twitter, and apologised to his fans: “All he’s done is stalled the beating he’s going to get and I promise you all I will rid this guy out of boxing once and for all.”
“This is boxing,” Catterall’s manager Sam Jones told The Independent. “We half-expected him to pull out, but the fight will get rescheduled, so Jack will see Josh in May. All this has done is prolonged the beating he’s going to get.”
It is now two years since Taylor and Catterall met for the first time in what was expected to be a routine defence of the WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine titles held by the 33-year-old Scottish southpaw. It proved to be anything but.
England’s Catterall, 30, gave Taylor all he could handle. Taylor was cut twice by the left eye and was down in the eighth round. He was also deducted one point in the 11th for punching after the bell. Catterall was docked one point for holding in the 10th.
When the dust settled the judges awarded Taylor the victory by scores of 113-112, 111-114-111 and 112-113. Many fans and pundits felt Catterall deserved to win.
The rematch was officially announced last month and both boxers said they were keen to settle the score after years of niggling each other through the media.
“I’ve never run from anyone in my life, especially not Jack Catterall,” said Taylor. “He has spent the last two years running from promoter to promoter while living off my name.
“Jack should be careful what he wishes for because he’s getting battered on April 27. I am going to enjoy every second of this. See you soon, Jack.”
“I’ve wanted this fight since the moment the scorecards got read out in Glasgow,” said Catterall. “A few people say ‘move on Jack’ and that’s easy to say to when you’re not in my position.
“I get asked every day of my life multiple times a day, ‘when are you fighting Taylor again?’. This isn’t about a belts, this is personal to me and I can’t wait to get my hands on him.
“I don’t like him, I don’t respect him and on April 27 I’m going to end him.”
