Jack Catterall has himself a big fight. The once-beaten 140 pound contender (beaten only by Josh Taylor in ‘that’ decision back in February of last year) will face former multi-weight champ Jorge Linares, the fight to go ahead in Liverpool on October 21st. RingTV.com reports how the fight will be staged at the M&S Bank Arena in the City, the fight to go out on DAZN.
This is an interesting match up, one between a young contender who is hungry for another chance at a world title, and a veteran former champion who is keen to get on the comeback road. 37 year old Linares of Venezuela has fought in the UK before, more than once in fact. Linares, 47-8(29) travelled to the UK to defeat Kevin Mitchell back in May of 2015, with Linares retaining his WBC lightweight title. Then, in 2016 and 2017, “El Nino” defeated Anthony Crolla in back-to-back fights.
Linares, who has also ruled at featherweight and at super-featherweight, has been in the ring with a number of good and great fighters, including Vasiliy Lomachenko, Luke Campbell, and Devin Haney. Catterall, the younger man by seven years, will be taking a risky fight here, even if Linares may be past his best and is coming off three straight losses. Linares last boxed in December of last year and now he says he cannot wait to get back in the ring. Maybe Linares sees the UK as one of his good luck places to fight.
Catterall, 27-1(13) and a southpaw, has fought just once since suffering that controversial split decision defeat at the hands of Taylor, with the Chorley man beating Darragh Foley in a rust-remover in May of this year. A win over Linares, a commanding win in particular, would be a huge boost for Catterall, who is still hungry for a second fight with Taylor (who is no longer champion, having lost to Teofimo Lopez last time out).
Linares will show us all how much he has left on October 21, while Catterall will be trying his best to knock off a probable future Hall of Famer. UK fans can expect a good fight, maybe a very good fight here.