Life comes at you fast. In boxing it can take just one fight to completely transform the way a fighter is perceived. Whether that is a glorious, unexpected victory putting them amongst the sport’s elite or a surprising, dramatic defeat knocking them off their perch. But it is a lot less common for a victory to essentially have the effect of a defeat and end up harming a boxer’s reputation.
This is the exact fate that has befallen Josh Taylor over the course of the past 15 months. ‘The Tartan Tornado’ walked into his fight with Jack Catterall in February 2022 with the respect and admiration of his peers. In his last fight, the Scotsman had become the first four-belt undisputed super lightweight champion in boxing history. Taylor had just beaten WBC and WBO champion Jose Ramirez in a battle of unbeaten fighters to add those straps to his IBF, WBA and The Ring belts. The Catterall bout, in front of a packed OVO Hydro in his native land, was supposed to be a glorious homecoming for the undisputed king.
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It is hard to imagine what happened in that Glasgow ring causing any more damage to Taylor’s reputation if it had been a defeat. While the champion retained his titles with a split decision, the vast majority of observers felt Catterall had done enough to clinch victory. It was not the worst robbery in boxing history but due to the prevalence of social media it was treated as such. Overnight, Taylor had gone from heroic undisputed king to a phony monarch who fans no longer bought into. Jack Catterall was their champion.
Taylor’s attitude in the following days and weeks did little to redress the balance. Unsurprisingly he did not agree with the hordes of people attacking him over the scorecards. On the one hand his attitude was understandable. After all, it’s Taylor’s job to fight, not to score the bout. It was the judges who had erred, with scorer Ian John-Lewis downgraded by the British Boxing Board of Control in the aftermath. But Taylor’s initial insistence that he saw nothing wrong with the fact he was awarded the win and refusal to give Catterall a rematch on that basis harmed his popularity further.
The following year-and-a-bit has not been kind to Taylor or his standing in the boxing world. The Scotsman did eventually acquiesce to the idea of a rematch. This decision would cost him three of his world title belts, as the WBC, WBA and IBF selected mandatories other than Catterall. But after Taylor's initial reluctance drew scorn, few were willing to backtrack and award him credit for giving up three of the titles he fought so hard for in order to make the fight happen.
Taylor’s year on the sidelines was exacerbated by the rematch being called off due to an injury he sustained in training. Now the pair who have been inextricably linked by the events of that night last year are going in different directions. Catterall returned last month with a unanimous decision win in a ten-rounder with Darragh Foley. Meanwhile, Taylor takes on a fight that is actually more appealing to the average fan than a rematch with ‘El Gato’.
Keyboard warriors have allowed the Taylor-Catterall controversy to define their odious online personalities for over a year now. But Lopez has achieved more in the sport than Catterall at this stage. The idea of ‘The Takeover’ vying for the WBO, The Ring and lineal super lightweight titles is an intriguing one. Throw in the fact Taylor is unbeaten and one of the best fighters Lopez has ever faced and its easy to see this as a box office attraction. The Scottish stylist goes in as the betting favourite but he’s in there with a man who became the first person to beat Vasiliy Lomachenko in six years. He also performed better than the other two men to beat ‘The Matrix’, with Orlando Salido and Devin Haney’s points wins both being viewed as controversial.
Boxing fans don’t always get what they want. Ask the majority of British fans at least and they would have said Taylor-Catterall II was the only next move for the WBO champion. But sometimes what you want and what you need aren’t the same thing. This is objectively a better, more high-level fight than the rematch. Also, if Taylor wins then the second chapter with Catterall only becomes more appealing. Catterall’s level increases because he will have “beaten”, in the eyes of many, someone capable of neutralising Teofimo Lopez. So sit back and enjoy this bout. It might not be the one you wanted, but it’s the one you need.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
