Josh Taylor’s WBO mandatory defence against Jack Catterall has, according to Mike Coppinger’s almost always, take it to the bank reliable sources, been agreed for December 18th in Scotland. According to Coppinger’s tweet of an hour ago, the two fighters will square off at The SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow with all four of 140-pound king Taylor’s belts to be on the line.
“Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall have agreed to terms for Dec. 18 bout at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, for the undisputed 140-pound championship. ESPN platform in the U.S, Sky in the U.K,” reads Coppinger’s tweet.
Taylor, a superb fighter who will be making the first defence of the four belts he won when he defeated Jose Carlos Ramirez to add the IBF and WBO titles to his WBA and WBC straps, is a pound-for-pound entrant on some lists. Perfect at 18-0(13) the 30-year-old southpaw will doubtless be a big betting favorite over Catterall. However, Catterall is unbeaten himself at 26-0(13) and the 28-year-old from Chorley, Lancashire is also a southpaw.
It’s an interesting fight for sure, and it may turn out to be a significantly tougher homecoming fight for Taylor than some people perhaps think. Catterall is a skilled boxer and he has scored good wins over the likes of Tyrone Nurse, Tyrone McKenna, and Ohara Davies. And Catterall, who agreed to step aside to allow Taylor to fight Ramirez, has been waiting for his big chance and he is hungry. This is no easy or safe fight for Taylor, who will have the enormous carrot/slice of motivation that is a possible super-fight with Terence Crawford at stake.
It is tough to picture Taylor losing, so excellent was he against Ramirez, so on top of his game and at his peak as he is. But again, this one should prove to be a good fight. Can Taylor stop Catterall, or will “El Gato” extend Taylor? Or maybe you are picking the upset? This one might be the last big world title fight in 2021. If he can win and win impressively, what a year Taylor will have had.
Catterall last boxed in November of last year when he defeated Abderrazak Houya, therefore he will have been out of the ring for almost a full year by the time he challenges Taylor.