Eddie Hearn has admitted Jack Catterall “should have done” more in his narrow loss to Arnold Barboza Jr.
On Saturday (15 February) in Manchester, Catterall lost a split decision to Barboza Jr, as the scorecards read 115-113, 113-115, 115-113 in the American’s favour. With that, Barboza picked up the WBO interim super-lightweight title, potentially setting up a clash with regular champion Teofimo Lopez.
The result was a momentum killer for Chorley’s Catterall, who had bounced back from his controversial loss to Josh Taylor in 2022 with four straight wins – including a victory over Taylor in their rematch last year.
“I don’t think either of them did enough, if I’m honest,” Hearn, who promotes Catterall, told Fight Hub TV after Saturday’s main event. “In that kind of fight, you’ve always got to do a little bit more – in my opinion.
“When I got in the ring after, Barboza was like: ‘Yeah!’ I said: ‘That’s close.’ He went: ‘That’s not close.’ I went: ‘Mate, it’s 7-5 either way.’ I actually thought Catterall won the twelfth [round] to edge the fight, but every judge gave Barboza the twelfth. But you can’t complain. Every judge had it 115-113 either way.
“[Catterall] should have done a little more. Just be more aggressive, go twice, back him up. You’re waiting. The one-two down the middle was working a lot of the time, but he wasn’t throwing enough.
“In a little bit of the middle part of the fight, he just allowed Barboza [to work]. Early on, I had it like 2-1 or 3-1 to Catterall, and then Barboza kind of won six, seven, eight, nine – that kind of period. Then Jack came back into it a little bit, but I just felt like he switched off a little bit. He let it slip, that’s the key.
“When I say, ‘Neither of them did enough,’ it was the same with Barboza really. Did he actually come and rip that title [from Jack]? It was a vacant title, so you’ve just got to win rounds really, but you’ve got to do – sometimes, when you come to the UK – a little bit more.
“When they said ‘115-113’ at the end from the Polish judge, I was like: ‘I think we got it.’ The US judge went 115-113, the UK judge went 115-113 – both the other ways – and I just thought we won a close decision, but no complaints.”
Hearn said he did not talk to Catterall, 31, at length in the ring, adding: “He was a little bit dejected obviously. I think he’ll kick himself. It’s easy to say: ‘Do more.’ If you do more and you’re a bit aggressive, you get countered. Barboza is a good fighter as well, he’s got sneaky power. I just feel now is the time where you will kick yourself for not doing a little bit more.”
Hearn was coy on a potential rematch, saying: “We’ll see what happens with Teofimo. Ultimately, Teofimo is probably going to fight Richardson Hitchins, and then the winner will have to fight Barboza. If the title becomes vacant, maybe Jack is back up there with a shot at the rematch.”
