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Josh Taylor was about to announce a rematch with bitter rival Jack Catterall when injury struck, sidelining the WBO super-lightweight champion and putting the much-anticipated bout on ice for the time being.
Scotland’s Taylor had relinquished three of his four world titles to make the Catterall rematch happen, but he is not short of other big names in the division looking to challenge him.
Teofimo Lopez defeated Vasiliy Lomachenko to become a lightweight champion in 2020 and has now moved up to 140lbs and won two fights.
Lopez has been targeting Taylor, previously telling Sky Sports: “I actually will put him down better than what Catterall did. He won’t come back up, that’s all I can tell you.”
Catterall dropped Taylor when he challenged for the undisputed super-lightweight crown last year. A hugely anticipated rematch was expected this year but then Taylor suffered his injury.
Despite the setback, Catterall’s promoter Ben Shalom thinks the rematch still has to be next for Taylor.
“Of course it has,” Shalom told Sky Sports. “Jack’s been waiting 12 months. He’s signed his contract, he’s waiting for the rescheduled date.
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Promoter Ben Shalom is delighted to have Lawrence Okolie back on Sky Sports and gives an update on the Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall rematch
“Jack’s waiting and we’re waiting. We were about to announce the fight and Josh Taylor said that he was injured and we’re still waiting on [news of] when Josh Taylor’s going to be fit.
“We have a contract for that fight. [Talk of Teofimo Lopez] is a bit confusing to us but we have a contract for the fight and we’re waiting to agree a date as soon as Josh Taylor’s fit.”
Catterall will take a tune-up bout on the Lawrence Okolie vs David Light bill on March 25, live on Sky Sports.
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Jack Catterall wants to ‘cement his name’ as he seeks revenge on Josh Taylor following his defeat early last year
“He has to fight,” Shalom explained. “He fought once in two years because he stepped aside for the [undisputed Jose Ramirez fight against] Taylor, then had that fight and then has been out since through no fault of his own. His career’s been stalled.
“Jack wants the Josh Taylor fight. We’ve been told that it’s definitely not going to be March, April, May, so he wants a tick over, he wants to get out.
“An eight rounder, get the cobwebs off and we’re ready for Josh Taylor as soon as he’s ready.”
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