Junior welterweight contender Jack Catterall 29-1 (13) feels that he has got his career back on track following his revenge win over former undisputed 140-pound champion Josh Taylor 19-2 (13) in May.
The 31-year-old southpaw from Chorley, Lancashire was desperately unlikely not to get the nod over Scottish lefty Taylor, 33, in their first bout in February 2022, which he lost by split decision.
The rematch was scheduled, cancelled, then rescheduled repeatedly over the next two years. When it finally took place at First Direct Arena in Leeds two months ago, Catterall prevailed by unanimous decision with scores of 117-111, 116-113 and 117-111.
It felt like he got the monkey off his back.
“There was probably a couple years of frustration after the first fight, probably before the first fight, and it was something that needed to be done,” said Catterall, who will make a quick return to the ring when he takes on ex-titleholder Regis Prograis 29-2 (24) at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester on August 24.
“I was fortunate enough that we got it done a couple of weeks ago in Leeds and it’s — for me now that chapter’s done. It’s 2-0, it’s finished and we can move on and we got Regis Prograis August 24th and that’s where my focus is now.”
Catterall has been frustrating close to world title shots before, but he isn’t prepared to sit on the sidelines and wait.
“I’ve been in them positions before, I was ranked number one by the WBO, waiting for that shot at the world title and it took some time to get there,” said Catterall, who is ranked in the top three by all four major world sanctioning bodies.
“I’m not prepared now to sit out and wait for that perfect scenario where you fight for a world title, I need to put myself in the picture, I need to be busy and active.
“These are the fights that I’ve said to my manager, my promoters, my team that I want and I think this is a brilliant fight to put me in that position to go on and fight for a world title.
“I know what I’ve got in front of me. I’ve got a tough fight August the 24th, two-time world champion who’s hungry to become three-time.
“I’ve yet to have my hands on a world title, it’s something that I’ve dreamed of for many years and I believe beating Regis is a step closer to that.”
The 35-year-old Progrias, a fellow southpaw from New Orleans, is ranked number four by the WBA and the IBF. The WBO has him in the number seven position while the WBC ranks him just outside of their top 10 at number 11.
In his last bout he was on the wrong end of a shutout against WBC junior welterweight champion Devin Haney 31-0, 1NC (15) in San Francisco last December.
