Undisputed Jr. welterweight king Josh Taylor (18-0, 13 KO) is going home.
One day, we may look at Taylor as Scotland’s finest since at least Ken Buchanan. In 2022, it’s enough to just be one of the best fighters in the world. With wins over Viktor Postol, Regis Prograis, and Jose Ramirez, Taylor earned his place in the ring.
The 31-year old Taylor will defend his place against 28-year old UK rival Jack Catterall (26-0, 13 KO) on Saturday (ESPN+, 2 PM EST). Taylor is favored to win. If he does, there is plenty of room to speculate about what could be next.
One option is to follow the last man to unify the Jr. welters up to welterweight, challenging WBO welterweight titlist Terence Crawford (38-0, 29 KO). It might not be the fight everyone wants most at welterweight (and Yordenis Ugas could upset that apple cart in the spring) but it’s still one of the better clashes the sport could deliver.
There is another option.
Taylor is on top of his mountain, alone right now.
A champion in the best sense boxing can deliver.
When we have champions like that they can, if they choose to, force the hopes of an entire division through them for as long as they reign and do business with boxing’s various political bodies.
Across the Atlantic, into the evening hours, a potentially serious contender stands at the base of Taylor’s mountain. With a win, he will begin his ascent to attempt to seize the summit.
25-year old Gary Antuanne Russell, the brother of former featherweight titlist Gary Russell Jr, is undoubtedly talented. The 2016 Olympic quarterfinalist has good size, explosive offense, and the toughest opponent of his career.
Ironically, like Taylor, Russell is making one of his first big moves by tackling former titlist Viktor Postol (31-3, 12 KO) on Showtime (10 PM EST). The 38-year old Ukranian has only lost to the very best since his career best win over Lucas Matthysse. Postol lost competitively to Taylor and Ramirez. Only Crawford had what was made to look like an easy night.
When Russell faces Postol, he’s not just fighting the man in front of him. Russell will be fighting what unfolded in Postol’s previous affairs. It’s inevitable. Comparison shopping may feed into fallible triangle theories but it’s also plain natural.
Until we see two fighters in a ring together, we compare their performances against common foes.
If Russell can win decisively this weekend, it will be a statement of intent in the division. It will also be a seed if Taylor opts to stay at Jr. welterweight.
The way boxing works today, it’s hard to keep titles unified with multiple sanctioning body obligations. Sometimes, it’s easier or cheaper to let a belt go or ask to be ‘franchised.’
Like McDonald’s but less delicious.
Postol is currently ranked fourth by the WBC. Russell hasn’t achieved a ranking with any of the sanctioning bodies. Their top two contenders, and consensus top ten Jr. welterweights in general, Ramirez (26-1, 17 KO) and Jose Pedraza (29-3, 14 KO) face off in just a week to keep the fires stoked in the division.
There are moves being made, good fights happening, and opportunities opening up. A win this weekend could get Russell within a fight or two of a mandatory ranking in the division by any of multiple bodies. A fight with leading contender Alberto Puello (20-0, 10 KO), who held the WBA’s interim belt in the division, made his last start on a PBC card.
Russell fights under the PBC umbrella.
It’s a path to think about for Russell to take if he beats Postol this weekend; a step in the right direction to securing what the sporting side of boxing should be about: securing a shot at the champion.
For as long as there is a single, true champion at any weight, we should be thinking about their potential challengers. At Jr. welterweight, Josh Taylor is the king.
Russell could be someone to watch as a threat to his crown.
It gives everyone more to think about when the fights unfold this weekend.
Cliff’s Notes…
Losing Roger Gutierrez this weekend was a bummer but Chris Colbert still has plenty to fight for as he looks to see Gutierrez and clear up the WBA picture at Jr. lightweight should he win this weekend…Tyson Fury-Dillian Whyte is done and that’s good news. Whyte deserves a shot at the title and it will be good to see Fury in with a fresh contender…Andre Ward and Gennadiy Golovkin engaging in a Twitter spat is as amusing as anything that never resulted in a fight…Will Baseball have a season? One has to assume they don’t want to repeat the flaws of 1994…Saul Alvarez still doesn’t have his next fight set. The world keeps turning.
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
