One of the most recent undisputed champions is back in action on Saturday night in his homeland. Josh Taylor, owner of the four recognized titles at 140 pounds, returns to the ring on Saturday night in Glasgow, Scotland, to take on mandatory challenger Jack Catterall from the SSE Hydro Arena (2 p.m. ET, ESPN+). Taylor took out the best in the world at junior welterweight to reach this status and has eyes on bigger fights up a weight class.
Before moving on to more prestigious fights, Taylor (18-0, 13 KO) has to handle business against WBO mandatory challenger Catterall (26-0, 13 KO).
Catterall had earned his shot at the WBO belt when the sanctioning body ordered a fight with then-WBO and WBC champion Jose Ramirez in 2019. Instead, Ramirez would go on to instead to face his WBC mandatory, Viktor Postol. Still in line for a shot at Ramirez, Catterall took step-aside money to allow Ramirez and Taylor to fight in a four-belt unification, which Taylor won by narrow unanimous decision.
Now, having waited for more than two years, Catterall gets his chance to become world champion. His patience is also rewarded in getting a rare shot at an undisputed champion.
"I've been mandatory for the WBO title. After waiting two years, I've got a chance now to capture the undisputed. I've not just come up here to make up the numbers. I've been waiting two years for this opportunity," Catterall said during the press conference.
"I think the respect has been there. Me and Josh know once the bell goes, the respect is out of the window. We can shake hands after. We're going to punch each other's heads in and that's in."
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While the build to the fight was initially civil, little digs from Taylor over Catterall's "shortcut" to the title as well as stating that Catterall simply wasn't on the level of Taylor -- or the men he beat to gain his four belts -- seemed to have pushed Catterall to a new level of intensity during Friday's weigh-ins.
After the two men weighed in and Taylor marched toward Catterall for a staredown, Catterall grabbed Taylor's throat, leading to the pair being pulled apart.
Having battled through a parade of tough opposition, including Postol, Ivan Baranchyk, Regis Prograis and Jose Carlos Ramirez, Taylor isn't wrong that Catterall has not had to walk the hardest road to get a shot at four world championships. But the champion's focus will need to remain on the task at hand, not on completing his 140-pound resume before heading north to welterweight where potentially massive fights could materialize.
"We'll see what happens. I can be a career 140 pounder if I want. I make the weight well, very comfortably. I'm strong at the weight, too," Taylor told ESPN. "What's left for me to do? There's not much achievement left for me at light welterweight, I've done it all. All I can do is retain my belts and make defenses which then become mandatory after mandatory after mandatory after mandatory -- I don't get the fights that I want.
"So my goals and ambitions are to become a two-weight world champion, longer-term goals, set new goals, new targets. So I want to become a two-weight world champion and so the only way to do that would be to move up to welterweight and challenge guys like Terence Crawford, your Ugas, your Spences, things like that. And I believe I can win these fights as well."
Below is the complete fight card with the latest odds from Caesars Sportsbook.
Taylor vs. Catterall card, odds
| Favorite | Underdog | Weight class |
|---|---|---|
Josh Taylor (c) -1200 | Jack Catterall +750 | Undisputed junior welterweight title |
Robeisy Ramirez -1500 | Eric Donovan +850 | Featherweight |
Nick Campbell -1500 | Jay McFarlane +850 | Heavyweight |
Prediction
Taylor is not wrong in his statements that Catterall has not had to compete at anywhere approaching the elite level where Taylor lives. That said, every elite fighter has to have that first true step-up fight. The problem for Catterall is that, while a talented boxer, he has never shown the kind of skills that suggest he can compete with Taylor. That said, we've said similar words about men like George Kambosos as they prepared to face Teofimo Lopez, and look at how that turned out. Taylor is simply better than Catterall in every area of the game and it's hard to see how Catterall can overcome all those deficits to score the shock upset. This is the kind of fight where Taylor's attack, especially to the body, breaks down the challenger before the mid-rounds stoppage. Pick: Taylor via TKO7
