“And the new!”
It’s what every young child dreams of when they first pick up a pair of boxing gloves. They picture themselves walking out in front of thousands and hearing the words from Michael Buffer himself. The moment is replayed in their minds over and over, in Madison Square Garden one night; Las Vegas the next.
Jack Catterall is no different. The Chorley, England-based fighter was robbed of his crowning moment when he was controversially denied the undisputed junior-welterweight title against Josh Taylor back in 2022. Catterall has worked hard to get himself back into a position to challenge for world honors. Victories over former champions Taylor, in a rematch, Jorge Linares and Regis Prograis have put him one fight away from a title shot.
The 33-year-old Arnold Barboza Jnr is the man in Catterall’s path – they square off on Saturday at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England, for the WBO interim title. The winner will face the champion Teofimo Lopez. However, it looks as though Catterall will be robbed of his moment again.
It seems that Lopez has no plans of defending his title against the winner of Saturday’s bout, and is more interested in a move up to 147lbs, meaning Catterall, in the event of victory, would be elevated to full champion, again denying him his “And the new” moment.
“Yeah, we're always holding out, because Teofimo [Lopez] is regarded as the number one in the division, and if Jack can get that fight, then amazing,” Catterall’s trainer, Jamie Moore, told BoxingScene. ‘I'm just hoping to God that if he's not going to fight at the weight again, then by some miracle this week, something happens, he gets stripped, and then it's upgraded to the full version. Because the last thing I want for Jack is for him to win the interim title, and then next week Teofimo gives it up, and it should have been for the full world title anyway.
“But, in all honesty, it won't make a difference. It just would have been nice if that was the way it unfolds.
“Or, in May or June, Teofimo goes, ‘Right, let's do it’. Big performance from Jack on Saturday, and then we go, ‘Right, Teofimo fancies it now’. So, you never know. It's a big fight. It's a huge fight for us.”
Catterall, 31, was an avoided fighter in his early years. He brought little to the table in a marketing context, but had the technical ability to test any of his divisional rivals. Moore thinks this is now not the case, after Catterall has become a leading headline act in the UK.
“I've sort of agreed with people in the past, Jack Catterall has been in the ‘Who Needs Him Club’,” the trainer said. “So, the risk-reward before didn't really match. You weren't going to get paid a fortune to fight Jack and he's very, very good. Whereas now, they understand or it's proven that he's very good. Yet, the wages when you fight him now, at this stage of his career, will be worth the risk.
“So, I've got a feeling that say, for instance, there was a Riyadh Season card, and it was Matchroom versus Top Rank. I don't know what the situation is now, promotionally. But whoever Teofimo is with, financially, the money's going to be there for him to take that fight.
“And I want a fight like that for Jack. It's like a career-defining, legacy fight. So, I'd love that to happen for him. First thing first, get this Saturday done. Interim world title if that's the case. Hopefully, he gets to fight Teofimo then for the full world title, but if it has to be upgraded, then it is what it is.”
A world title is not the pinnacle for Catterall. Moore thinks he is still capable of collecting the four titles he was denied against Taylor.
“Yeah, of course it is [possible],” he said. “I think the way the sport's moving now, I think Turki Alalshikh and Eddie [Hearn], and Frank [Warren], and Bob Arum, they're all working by the sound of it, under the same umbrella now for the greater good of the sport. And everyone wants one world champion. So, I just feel like once he wins a world title, he'll then be maneuvered to fight the other best fighters, and hopefully, God willing, he can become undisputed because he deserves it.
“It got took away from him in the past, but if he can do it the hard way, rather than doing it in one fight and pick them up along the way, then so be it.”