Former undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor 19-1 (13) is expecting a much better fight against Jack Catterall 28-1 (13) the second time around when they meet at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England on Saturday night.
From both of them.
The 33-year-old Scottish southpaw edged their first bout by split decision two years ago after climbing off the canvas in the eighth. The fight got messy late and British lefty Catterall, 30, was deducted a point for holding in the 10th.
The judges scored the bout for Taylor by scores of 114-111, 113-112 and 112-113, but many fans and pundits believed challenger Catterall deserved the nod in the WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine 140-pound title fight.
Despite winning the fight, it is Taylor who feels he has something to prove.
“I’m good, I’m enjoying the week, the press conference, all the media, it’s just another fight week and on Saturday it’s just another fight,” said Taylor, who lost his last fight to Teofimo Lopez 20-1 (13) last June.
“I am looking forward to putting all this to bed and moving on with my career and proving that the last time was just an off night.
“Look at the history of boxing, all the great fighters of the past have taken defeats and come back and won world titles again. Just because you take one defeat, it doesn’t mean you are a finished fighter.
“I think that’s where boxing has taken a turn for the worse because when a fighter takes a loss everyone says ‘ah he’s finished’, and stuff like that, but in the UFC, there are fighters that have got 20 fights with ten losses but they are still at the top of the game and still fighting. Just because you take a loss it doesn’t mean that you are a bad fighter.
“I still feel that I am at the top of the game and on Saturday, I take care of business and I am back in the picture and winning my titles back.”
The rematch has been scheduled, pushed back, rescheduled and cancelled that many times it’s hard to count. But Taylor says his health has always been his top priority and he doesn’t regret the delay.
“It’s been a long two years since the first fight,” Taylor said. “We’ve been talking about it, there’s been the delays and injuries, but my health comes first, it’s paramount.
“I’d like to say thank you to you guys when I said about the postponement, for getting it done nice and quickly and only making it four weeks later. I’m looking forward to it and I can’t wait for Saturday.
“The last fight was a stinker from both of us. Jack was doing a lot of holding and spoiling, slowing the pace down, I was very poor as well. I believe the two of us can be a lot better and it will be a better fight for the fans.
“It’s going to be a barnstormer, we were in the arena on Monday and got a bit of a surprise, it’s right on top of you, so it’s going to be a great experience and atmosphere in there.”
As for Catterall’s prediction of a knockout?
“If he wants to do that great, absolutely fantastic, music to my ears,” he said.
“I don’t care how I win this fight, by points or by stoppage, the way I have been performing in the gym, the shots I’ve been throwing and catching people with, if I catch him with these shots it will be over and devastating for him.
“But we’ll see what happens, it’s just a win for me. This is must-win, this is for bragging rights, this is to say ‘I told you I am better than you’, so I can’t wait.”
