By: Hans Themistode
If you spent any amount of time with Britain’s Jack Catterall, his confidence could come across as hubris. The 28-year-old has looked defiantly in the direction of oddsmakers, who’ve pegged him as a considerable underdog against Josh Taylor this weekend, and shrugged his shoulders incredulously.
Throughout most of their buildup, Catterall has warned Taylor that his undisputed 140-pound reign will be coming to an end. Initially, Taylor enjoyed the back and forth theatrics. At this point, however, with their contest taking place in just a few more days, Taylor is just about done with the nonstop banter.
“All of the talking is done now,” said Taylor during an interview with IFL TV. “I just want to get my hands on Jack Catterall and batter him. I just want to get in there and give him a good, solid beatdown.”
Taylor, of course, is coming off the most impressive stretch of his relatively young career. Although he made just one ring appearance in both 2020 and 2021, Taylor made the best of it. He blew away mandatory challenger Apinun Khongsong in the first round during their 2020 showdown before snatching away both the WBC and WBO titles from Jose Ramirez to become an undisputed champion.
On the other side of the equation, Catterall spent the entirety of 2021 on the sidelines. The 140-pound mandatory challenger did manage to stretch his record to a perfect 26-0 following his one-sided unanimous decision victory over Abderrazak Houya.
Regardless of how impressive Catterall has been throughout his time as a pro, Taylor believes that come Saturday night, at the SSE Hydro in the United Kingdom, Catterall will be on the receiving end of a beating of a lifetime.
“I’m just going to out-box him, out-fight him, and out-think him. It’s going to be a long, painful night for him.”