Jack Catterall recognises that replacing Jamie Moore as his trainer with Derek “Bozy” Ennis represented a “gamble”, but he is already relishing the prospect of linking up with the American again.
The welterweight worked with Ennis for the seven weeks leading up to his victory on Saturday over Ekow Essuman, when on the undercard of Conor Benn’s victory over Chris Eubank Jnr he stopped his fellow Briton in the 11th round.
Victory keeps him on course to challenge the winner of the WBO title fight between Brian Norman Jnr and Devin Haney in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 22, but in the short-term – and perhaps more relevantly – he feels vindicated at having relocated to Philadelphia to work with the in-demand Ennis regardless of the near-decade under Moore that delivered mostly success.
Catterall has previously been criticised for a perceived commitment to boxing on the back foot, but under the largely attack-minded Ennis against Essuman – who he also dropped in the fourth round at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – he demonstrated greater spite.
He also knows that to succeed against the winner of Norman Jnr-Haney he will need to continue to improve, and to that end, after a week’s rest following his contest with the 36-year-old Essuman, he will return to the gym near his home in Chorley, England before preparing to return to Philadelphia when his next fight date is confirmed.
“I took a big gamble changing team after eight, nine years,” he told BoxingScene. “I understand that 30-odd fights and 32 years old, you’re never going to change anything drastically. I’m not going to be a complete new fighter. But I’ve always believed that it was the time to go, put meself in a new environment, with a fresh set of eyes, and maybe that would give me that extra edge – that extra focus – and I do believe the gamble paid off.
“It was having the confidence in my ability to go through the gears and let me hands go. I feel comfortable defensively; I feel like I can outbox people; I always feel strong; I’ve dropped people over the last two or three years; quality fighters. But I’ve probably been missing that killer instinct – that finish – and I trained my bollocks off. I know I can do the 12 rounds; I know I’m strong; I’ve been sparring light middleweights; middleweights; welterweights; I’m not chinny. So it was just knowing, ‘I’ve got somebody hurt’, and having the confidence to go through that second phase and putting a statement on it.
“‘Bozy’ flew back [the following day]. We spent some time after the fight in the morning. That was our first fight together. He was made up with the performance; our first win together. There was some good, constructive criticism as well. There’s stuff we worked on I did; stuff we worked on maybe I didn’t do. I think that will come with another camp spending more time in the gym. I went out there fit; I had seven weeks with him before the fight, which in the grand scheme of things, when I’ve been doing the same stuff for eight, nine years, it’s not a long time in comparison. But he was happy with the things that I did do that we’d worked on. He said I’m a good listener; I can put stuff into action straight away.
“I think that’s the main thing – being open to learning and trying new things, but at the same time being cautious and not trying to be a different fighter; trying to go out there and say, ‘Look, I’m 2.0 reinvented’. It’s the subtle things; little things; practicing ‘em, doing ‘em well, and I think over time, spending more time in the gym second time round, we can watch the fight tape back and say, ‘This was good but this maybe wasn’t so good’. We’ve got some material now to work on.”
Ennis’ junior-middleweight son Jaron “Boots” Ennis followed Catterall’s arrival in Philadelphia with victory over Uisma Lima. Stephen Fulton fights O’Shaquie Foster for the WBC junior-lightweight title on December 6, and Andy Cruz is to challenge the IBF lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla on January 24 in another date that demonstrates the extent to which theirs is a thriving gym.
“The jab was good,” the 32-year-old Catterall reflected of his performance. “I probably neglected it a few times after the first four or five rounds, and the defensive – I felt great in the defensive stuff. There were times I’ve been working a lot on angles; shifting feet. I know Ekow’s a tough, natural welterweight, and he keeps coming forward – to give him credit that’s what he’s good at, trying to close the ring down, squeezing that distance and being in front of you. Earlier on I was shifting to the right, getting off centre quite well; [there were] a few rounds where I sat in front of him for a second too long. But overall I’m happy with the performance.
“I can’t sit here and say I’m going to be this and I’m gonna be that [after more time with Ennis], but what I can say is I’m excited; I felt comfortable; we had that chemistry. It was a gamble – I got on a flight, landed in the gym, and the fight was announced. There was no turning back – I wasn’t gonna spend a week in the gym and go, ‘Actually, I might have fucked up – I need to go’. When I’m doing something I’m all in, so I’m just thankful it worked out.
“I’m in the gym with a lot of great fighters; I got a lot of great sparring for the fight, and things clicked, so second time around I know what to expect. I’m going in there with a bit of experience of being in the gym – probably not being as uncomfortable – but I’ve also still got that excitement about me to get back in the gym and keep working and improving.”
