After almost 10 years together, Jamie Moore was sad to see one of his star students, Jack Catterall, depart for pastures new.
Manchester’s Moore has become one of the UK’s go-to trainers in recent years, and he now has heavyweight Dave Allen and cruiserweight Pat Brown on his books, having also worked with the likes of Tommy Coyle, Carl Frampton and Rocky Fielding.
Moore had not just been Catterall’s coach; he was a huge advocate for the Chorley man’s skills and abilities.
“He was amicable when he came,” Moore told BoxingScene of the split. “He sat down. He was upset. He said, ‘Listen, I just feel like I need motivating. I feel like we’re too close and [I’ve] got to the stage where I’m coming toward the end of the last few years in my career, and I need to try and get the best out of myself and take myself out of the comfort zone.’
“Basically, he was saying, ‘I feel too comfortable now and I feel like I need to go away and take myself out of my comfort zone.’ So I don’t agree with him because, ultimately, I believe that’s what you have to get out of yourself. But I said, ‘Jack, listen, it is what it is.’
“You know, we’ve had a great nine years together, and I wish him nothing but best. He’s a lovely kid. He’s a lovely kid, and again, it’s his decision. It’s his career. Fighters leave gyms, and again, I don’t agree that somebody else is going to get the best out of him, because we know him inside out. But I hope to God it works out for him, because this ain’t about me.
“I don’t do this for me. I do it to help the fighters, because I know this game is a dog’s game and there’s so many snakes and ladders. It happens week in, week out. And I started out doing it to help Tommy [Coyle] because I wanted to help him in one individual fight.
“And then, as time’s gone on – in fact, it was when we got to the stage when [Moore’s coach] Oliver [Harrison] got sick and Martin [Murray] and Rocky [Fielding] came to me, and I was in a position where I was helping Oliver out. Then Frampton came because he was in a situation and it just snowballed from there. But I only do this to try and help the fighters out.
“And if Jack’s decided that he’s got to the stage where he needs a different type of motivation and has to go somewhere else, what am I going to say? I’m not going to say, ‘Oh, I think you’re wrong and out of order.’ I wish him nothing but the best and I genuinely hope it works out for him.”
Catterall has headed out to Philadelphia to work with Derick “Bozy” Ennis. It’s a significant change for the 32-year-old Catterall, who has scored 31 wins against just two losses. He will fight Ekow Essuman in London in July.
“I know Jack’s style inside out,” added Moore.
“I just hope to God no one tries to change it, because he fights that way for a reason. He’s so good at what he does. Everyone’s got their best attributes, and imagine someone trying to get me to box. It wouldn’t have worked.”
Moore, a former European champion at 154lbs, was a southpaw warrior and involved in Fight of the Year wars with Matthew Macklin, Michael Jones and Ryan Rhodes.
“I’ve sent him a couple of messages,” Moore said of Catterall. “I spoke to him again after that conversation and I said, ‘Listen, before you go’ – he did say he was going to go to America – and I said, ‘I just wanted to let you know before you go, I wish you nothing but the best.’
“But his missus, Lauren … I said, ‘More importantly, forget boxing. I just wanted to wish you all the best with the baby, hope everything goes well and Lauren and baby are healthy,’ and stuff like that, because that’s what’s most important.”
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
