It is always good to win, always useful to be noticed, but if Jack Catterall hoped that victory over Timo Schwarzkopf was going to boost his world-title hopes, he may be disappointed.
It was in December 2018 that Catterall, who hails from the Lancashire town of Chorley, was installed as the No 1 in the WBO’s super-lightweight rankings and subsequently confirmed at that organisation’s mandatory challenger. But any hope that Catterall’s wait for a title shot was going to be a short one ended the day Maurice Hooker agreed to a unification fight with Jose Ramirez, the WBC champion. As anyone who like to follow boxing politics knows – unifications take priority and unified champions take their mandatories in rotation.
So Ramirez, the now unified WBC and WBO champion, will face Viktor Postol in February – reportedly at a mega golf complex in the south of China – and, if he wins, Catterall’s chance of boxing him next summer probably depend on a Ramirez-Josh Taylor fight not being agreed. If it is, it will likely be this time next year before he gets his chance.
His place on MTK’s bill at Caesars Palace, Dubai, served two purposes. It kept him busy, after seven months’ inactivity and, thanks to MTK’s deal with ESPN and Top Rank, it gave him some exposure on the network.
The German gave Catterall a solid workout, although it was only in round five, when Catterall was caught by some meaty shots and also cut, that Schwarzkopf threatened to pull off the upset. Catterall won by scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 99-92.
“We both has 10-12 weeks’ notice for the fight, I probably made hard work of that, but I have been out of the ring since April so it was good to get the rounds in,” Catterall said.
“He has never been stopped, he’s been the distance with some tough welterweight fighters, so I expected a tough, hard fight.
“I need to be more active, I’ve had one fight [previously] this year. I’m mandatory for the WBO world title – that’s getting boxed for in February. I have to sit down with the team but I am ready now, I don’t want any more eight or ten-rounders, I want to announce myself.
“I want to test my abilities against all the top boys.”
Oddly it was the first time that Catterall had been the sole top of the bill in a televised show.
Another English boxer with a lengthy unbeaten record on the bill was Thomas Patrick Ward, the world-ranked super-bantamweight from the North-East, who extended his unbeaten record to 29 bouts, but was made to go the distance for the 25th time, as he recorded a unanimous eight-round points decision over Martin Casillas, of Mexico.
Ward, who is ranked No 4 by the WBO and 13 by the IBF, tried hard to stop Casillas for the first time, dropping him with a left hook to the body early in the last round. All three judges scored it a shutout, 80-71.
“He was a strong, tough competitor,” Ward said. “At times when I was boxing I was making it look easy but I felt I had to show people I can also fight, I am not just a boxer. I’ve had a lot of experience, I’ve been boxing a decent calibre of opponent, I’ve learnt my trade. I’m happy to just keep on fighting. You are going to see a great 2020 from Tommy Ward.”
