FIGHT WEEK
Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall are scheduled to meet again on Saturday night following their controversial fight in February 2022.
JOSH TAYLOR (19-1, 13 KOs)
VS. JACK CATTERALL (28-1, 13 KOs)
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Date: Saturday, May 25
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Time: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (main event later in show)
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Where: First Direct Arena, Leeds, England
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TV/Stream: DAZN Pay-Per-View
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Division: Junior welterweight (140 pounds)
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At stake: No major titles
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Boxing Junkie Pound-for-pound: None
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Odds: Even (average of multiple outlets)
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Significance (up to five stars): ****
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Also on the card: Paddy Donovan vs. Lewis Ritson, welterweights; Cheavon Clarke vs. Ellis Zorro, cruiserweights; Gary Cully vs. Francesco Patera, lightweights
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Background: Taylor and Catterall are finally set to meet again after their controversial bout in February 2022, when Taylor won a not-so-convincing split decision. Taylor was a hot fighter at the time, having outpointed Jose Ramirez to become undisputed 140-pound champion the previous May. Then came the disputed victory over Catterall, after which his championship run unraveled. The 33-year-old Scotsman lost three of his four titles outside the ring and then had the worst night of his career, a clear decision loss against Teofimo Lopez in June of last year. He starts the rebuilding process against his rival on Saturday. Catterall, a 30-year-old Englishman, bounced back from the disappointment against Taylor with two consecutive victories. He put Darragh Foley down twice and easily outpointed him in May of last year and then defeated former three-division titleholder Jorge Linares by a one-sided decision in October. That was Linares’ fourth consecutive loss, meaning Catterall’s victory has limited significance.
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Prediction: Taylor UD
ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK
WEDNESDAY
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Batyrzhan Jukembayev vs. Ivan Redkach, junior welterweights, Plant City, Florida (ProBox TV)
THURSDAY
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Jermaine Franklin vs. Devin Vargas, heavyweights, Detroit (DAZN)
FRIDAY
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Lukasz Rozanki vs. Lawrence Okolie, bridgerweights (for Rozanski’s WBC title), Rzeszow, Poland (No TV in U.S.)
SATURDAY
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Christian Mbilli vs. Mark Heffron, super middleweights, Shawinigan, Canada (ESPN+)
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Dina Thorslund vs. Seren Cetin, bantamweights (for Thorslund’s WBC and WBO titles), Copenhagen, Denmark
(No TV in U.S.)
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Bader Al-Dherat vs. Orlando Mosquera, lightweights, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (DAZN)
Story originally appeared on Boxing Junkie
