Josh Taylor is set for the first fight in his home country in more than three years.
The undisputed junior welterweight champion puts all four major titles and the lineal crown on the line versus WBO mandatory challenger Jack Catterall. Both boxers made weight for their scheduled 12-round championship contest, which airs live on Sky Sports (United Kingdom) and ESPN+ (United States) from The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland.
Taylor—who hails from Edinburg, Scotland—weighed in right at the 140-pound limit, while England’s Catterall was a fighting fit 139 pounds for his first career title challenge.
The two nearly went at it on stage, with Taylor (18-0, 13KOs) immediately racing to Catterall at the start of the obligatory post weigh-in staredown. Taylor went forehead to forehead with the Brit, who placed his hand on the champion’s neck to create separation between the two. Taylor responded with an aggressive left-hand shove before they were immediately separated.
Taylor attempts the fourth defense of his IBF title which he won in his last appearance at this venue, a 12-round decision over then-unbeaten Ivan Baranchyk in May 2019. The bout served as the semifinal of the World Boxing Super Series 140-pound tournament, which Taylor won outright after beating undefeated Regis Prograis in October 2019, also collecting the WBA title which he will defend for the third time.
In his most recent start, Taylor outpointed Jose Ramirez to defend the WBA/IBF belts and collect the WBC/WBO titles last May at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Wedged in between was a September 2020 first-round knockout of unbeaten but grossly overmatched IBF mandatory Apinun Khongosong at the famed York Hall in Bethnal Green.
The 31-year-old Scottish southpaw faces his sixth consecutive unbeaten opponent in Catterall (26-0, 13KOs), who has waited out his WBO mandatory since prior to the pandemic. The 28-year-old British southpaw from Chorley, Lancanshire agreed to step aside to allow Taylor-Ramirez for the undisputed championship, seeing the value in fighting for all four belts rather than accepting a significantly lesser payday for a vacant title.
It has come at a cost outside the ring, as Catterall has not fought since November 2020. The delay came in part to this fight being delayed by two months, after an untimely injury forced Taylor to postpone their scheduled December 18 clash at this very venue.
Below are the weights for the undercard bouts, which air live on Sky Sports and ESPN+ beginning 8:00 p.m. local time/2:00 p.m. ET.
Robeisy Ramirez (8-1, 4KOs), Cienfuegos, Cuba, 126.3 pounds vs. Eric Donovan (14-1, 8KOs), Athy, Ireland, 126.3 pounds—10 rounds, featherweight
Nick Campbell (4-0, 4KOs), Glasgow, 254 pounds vs. Jay McFarlane (12-5, 5KOs), Glasgow, 276 pounds—10 rounds, heavyweight
Ebonie Jones (1-0, 0KOs), Portsmouth, England, 125.3 pounds vs. Eftychia Kathopouli (4-3, 0KOs), Glenrothes, Scotland, 124 pounds—6 rounds, featherweight
–boxingscene.com
