Josh Taylor might move up from the junior welterweight limit of 140 pounds to the welterweight division for his next fight.
Even if he decides to defend his IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 140-pound championships again, the fully unified, undefeated champion doesn’t see a reason why he should fight Jack Catterall a second time. England’s Catterall gave Taylor the toughest fight of his pro career in their 12-rounder Saturday night in Glasgow, Scotland, but Taylor won a controversial split decision at The OVO Hydro.
English judge Ian John-Lewis somehow scored eight rounds for Taylor, who won 114-111 on his scorecard. Scottish judge Victor Loughlin also scored their fight for Taylor, 113-112, whereas the other judge, England’s Howard Foster, scored Catterall a 113-112 winner.
Catterall (26-1, 13 KOs) dropped Taylor with a left hand in the eighth round. Referee Marcus McDonnell also took a point apiece from Catterall for holding during the 10th round and Taylor for lightly hitting Catterall in his midsection after the bell sounded to end the 11th round.
Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs) acknowledged that Catterall fought well, but the Scottish southpaw doesn’t believe the official result warrants another bout between them.
“I don’t think there’s any need for a rematch,” Taylor stated during his post-fight interview in the ring with Sky Sports. “I think I won the fight. I won the fight by a couple of rounds. I won the fight in the second half of the fight, you know, I took over, bust him. You know, he was doing a hell of a lot of holding and spoiling. And then, I think the ref taking a point off me probably hurt me a little bit. But I still won the fight. I thought I still won the fight.”
The 31-year-old Taylor, who was listed by Caesars Sportsbook as a 14-1 favorite, landed significantly fewer punches according to CompuBox’s unofficial statistics.
CompuBox counted 120-of-525 punches overall for Catterall, 47 more than it credited Taylor for landing (73-of-306). Catterall connected on more power punches (81 of 267 to 57-of-179) and more jabs (39-of-258 to 16-of-127).
Catterall, 28, was the WBO’s mandatory challenger for one of Taylor’s four titles. Because theirs was a mandated match, Taylor did not have a rematch clause in his contract in the event he would’ve lost.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
