Josh Taylor has reportedly vacated his WBC super-lightweight title in order to facilitate a rematch with Jack Catterall.
Taylor’s first defence of his status as the undisputed light-welterweight champion of the world came against Catterall, who headed into the bout as the considerable underdog.
The assumption was that Taylor would have far too much quality and steel for Catterall, who had never previously fought, let alone triumphed, on a stage of that magnitude.
However, Catterall produced the performance of his life to leave Taylor in real danger of losing his titles. The general consensus was that he ought to have won on the cards.
We’ve heard this story too many times before in boxing, though, and with Taylor fighting as the defending champion in his home country, he somehow managed to be awarded the victory.
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It has to go down as one of the biggest robberies the sport has seen in many a year, and there have been some seriously questionable judges’ scorecards in that period.
To add insult to injury from Catterall’s perspective, there didn’t appear to be much appetite from Taylor’s side to give him a rematch, certainly not straight away.
Things appear to have changed now, though. As is reported by the BBC, Taylor has vacated his WBC super-lightweight title in order to pave the way for his second fight with Catterall.
It is mentioned in the report that Taylor has received a significant amount of online abuse since the fight with Catterall. The community is wholeheartedly convinced that he was beaten.
He was, as anyone who knows the sport would acknowledge, but he equally deserves credit for doing all in his power to ensure that the rematch comes to fruition in due course.
Taylor is, at least officially, an unbeaten fighter. To agree to step into the ring with the only man who seriously threatened that exemplary record is a decision worthy of credit.
It’s also a measure of the man, who was under no obligation to give Catterall a second chance. After all, it was not he who scored the fight and robbed him of the greatest night of his career.
He has agreed to grant Catterall a second bite of the cherry, though, and will no doubt be doubly motivated to prove that he is the better fighter and will produce an improved performance the second time around.
Taylor will once again head into the fight as the overwhelming favourite, even with Catterall having produced a triumphant showing when the pair first met in the ring.
However, the events of that memorable evening on February 26th have added an extra serving of intrigue to the rematch, assuming that contracts are eventually signed…
