First Direct Arena: Leeds, England
It’s a magical thing to watch two perfect foils go at each other. Although this rematch scrap between Jack Catterall and Josh Taylor didn’t bring flashbacks to HAGLER-HEARNS or GATTI-WARD, there’s no denying the excitement it had. And yet again no matter how you at home scored it, judging once again played a part. And in fairness, with two exciting fighters, you’d rather get every possible second you can of a fight. A finish would almost seem like a robbery of memories. So yes, give us a trilogy to this war, but not right away.
Regardless of feelings, officially it’s 1-1. Whether you side with justice happened or not. But the rambling ranting of Bob Arum does have some validity to it. No matter how minor. 117-111 2x is questionable. And 116-113 is just less so. Both fighters brought it, but make no mistake, Catterall had the bigger overall moments. And Taylor it seemed was just a mere second off his timing. So the right fighter won. Getting there though, is another thing.
One big thing for Catterall was keeping his feet on the outside. That helped his combos and left land almost at will. And he countered well too. But despite this being big for him, come next week there’s still more that needs to be done in the gym before the next step.
It’s understandable why Eddie Hearn would like to start zeroing in on a strap. However, Catterall again goes at one pace, then sits back and watches his opponent. He does that against one of the belt holders, it won’t end pretty. Taylor tried to pressure him and work the body and had some success doing that. But didn’t keep Catterall at the end of his punches.
Give Us A Trilogy In A Year… Maybe
There’s a bevy of snipers at super-lightweight. And it might be time for Catterall to face some of the younger ones and build up a gameplan against that, then go after a strap, and finishing off with the trilogy. Besides space between fights is a good thing.
Someone like Richardson Hitchins has the great hand and foot speedthat would make Catterall commit keeping his foot on the gas. As a finesse fighter, Catterall wouldn’t have to worry so much about power coming back at him. More shots from different angles.
Now Hitchins might not have the resume or name recognition overall, but those in the know, know he would test him. And as part of the divisions youth movement, it would provide Hitchins with the next level growth he needs. That’s of course if he gets past the 5vs5 coming up.
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