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Mike Coppinger, ESPN
Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall have agreed to a junior welterweight rematch April 27 at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England, sources told ESPN.
The fight will be streamed on DAZN worldwide as part of the subscription streaming service, sources said.
When they met in Scotland in February 2022, Taylor (19-1, 13 KOs) retained his undisputed junior welterweight championship with a controversial split-decision victory over Catterall, who entered the ring as a major underdog.
Catterall (28-1, 13 KOs) dropped Taylor in Round 8 and cut him over the left eye. The decision led to more bad blood between Scotland’s Taylor and England’s Catterall, who signed on for an immediate rematch that has been postponed two times.
Taylor-Catterall 2 was set for February 2023 before a scheduling conflict delayed the bout last March. Then, Taylor suffered a torn plantar fascia, which seemed to doom the bout for good.
Rather than reschedule the rematch, Taylor signed on to defend his lineal 140-pound championship against Teofimo Lopez in June in New York, a fight where Taylor was soundly defeated via decision. The decision to forgo the rematch further exacerbated the personal issues between Taylor and Catterall.
The 33-year-old Taylor — who vacated three of his four titles to proceed with the Catterall rematch — said after the Lopez defeat that he planned to move up to 147 pounds. But this fight with Catterall will again be contested at the 140-pound limit, sources said, even with no title on the line.
“Today I should have been waking up with all of the belts,” Catterall said on Instagram the day after the fight with Taylor. “Boxing, shame on you. … Dreams stolen.”
Catterall, 30, has fought twice since that lone title challenge, victories last year over Darragh Foley and former champion Jorge Linares, who retired after Catterall outpointed him.
Taylor’s only fight since the win over Catterall came against Lopez, his first pro defeat.
“It wasn’t my best performance, and I’ve put a lot of pressure on myself being heavy favorite and boxing back at home … but once I started catching him, I believe I got the win 100 percent,” Taylor said afterward. “I know I won the fight; overall I scored the bigger shots and the more meaningful shots. He put up a good fight, but he never won the fight. Second half of the fight I took control.”