Devin Haney’s win was also good for Jack Catterall.
Haney dethroned Brian Norman Jnr on November 22 to capture the WBO’s welterweight title. That left a vacancy, as Haney had been ranked No. 1 at 147lbs by the organization.
The vacancy is now filled in the WBO’s latest rankings update, which was released December 22 and recognizes results through December 15. Catterall, who was previously No. 2, has been moved into the first slot.
Catterall, 32-2 (14 KOs), is a 32-year-old from Chorley, England. He had previously been a contender at junior welterweight – and was a set of controversial scorecards away from being the true champion at 140 following his first collision with Josh Taylor in 2022.
Catterall said goodbye to the weight class following a split decision loss to Arnold Barboza earlier this year for the WBO’s interim belt. He moved up to welterweight, notched a cut-shortened technical decision over Harlem Eubank in July and then scored an 11th-round TKO against Ekow Essuman in November.
Catterall is followed in the WBO’s welterweight rankings by Karen Chukhadzhian at No. 2, then Manny Pacquiao, Norman, Liam Paro, Rohan Polanco, Delante “Tiger” Johnson, David Papot, Shakhram Giyasov, Souleymane Cissokho, Ricardo Salas Rodriguez, Raul Curiel, Eimantas Stanionis, Constantin Ursu and Dubiel Sanchez.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
