3 minutes We look ahead at how any potential rematch could play out whilst also looking back at their highly-controversial first fight
Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall could finally be set to meet in a highly-anticipated rematch with reports of a fight agreed at the First Direct Arena in Leeds on April 27th. Two years on from their first encounter, a rematch will give both fighters the opportunity to settle an old score. We look ahead at how any potential rematch could play out whilst also looking back at their highly-controversial first fight. Ahead of the potential fight, you can find the best free offers and fight odds from Betfair right here at betting.bet.
First fight build-up and controversy
In January 2019, Jack Catterall was named as the number one challenger to WBO champion Maurice Hooker. However, Hooker lost his title to WBC champion José Ramírez in July, prompting the WBO to mandate a defence against Catterall. Yet, the WBC also ordered Ramírez to fight their mandatory challenger, Viktor Postol. Ramírez opted to face Postol with the condition that the winner would face Catterall. Just 48 hours after Ramírez defeated Postol in August 2020, he was again ordered to defend his title against Catterall. In October, Catterall agreed to a "step-aside" deal, allowing Ramírez to fight unified WBA (Super), IBF, and The Ring champion, Josh Taylor, for the undisputed light-welterweight title. This agreement stipulated that Catterall would then face the victorious fighter.
Josh Taylor defeated Ramirez to become just the fifth undisputed world champion in the four-belt era after Bernard Hopkins, Jermain Taylor, Terrence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk. An all-British fight against Jack Catterall was subsequently made for 18th December 2021. However, an injury sustained by Josh Taylor saw the fight pushed back to February 2022.
Taylor went into the February contest as the bookies’ overwhelming favourite but it was the challenger that had better throughout. Taylor was knocked in round eight and was second best for most of the contest however, he was awarded a split decision victory (114-111, 113-112, 112-113). The decision was widely condemned with calls for an immediate rematch.
What have both boxers been up to since their first fight?
Josh Taylor was stripped of his WBA (Super), WBC and IBF titles for failing to honour his mandatory obligations and when a rematch failed to materialise with Jack Catterall it was widely believed that Josh Taylor would step up in weight. However, in April of last year it was confirmed that Taylor would defend his WBO and Ring titles against Teofimo Lopez at Madison Square Garden on June 10th. Josh Taylor lost by unanimous decision to the American.
Jack Catterall fought twice in 2023, earning unanimous points victories on both occasions. Catterall won the vacant WBA Inter-Continental light-welterweight title against Darragh Foley before defeating three-weight world champion, Jorge Linares in October.
How would a potential rematch play out?
Given how the first fight went and with Josh Taylor coming in off the back of a big loss against Teofimo Lopez, it may be a surprise to see Josh Taylor is currently listed as the bookies’ favourite in the latest boxing betting odds to win any potential rematch.
Jack Catterall is likely to go into the bout as the bookies’ slight underdog but he would certainly be worth backing at 7/5. The 30-year-old has just one stoppage win in his last eight bouts which would make a Catterall points win the sensible bet when additional markets are opened.
Current fight odds (courtesy of Betfair)
- Josh Taylor: 4/7
- Draw: 16/1
- Jack Catterall: 7/5