Jack Catterall defeated former undisputed world super-flyweight champion Josh Taylor by unanimous choice in an exciting rematch in Leeds on Saturday evening.
Catterall avenged Taylor’s controversial break up choice loss in Glasgow two years in the past, touchdown the heavier punches to lastly settle the rating in one of many greatest fights in British boxing in current reminiscence.
All three judges gave Catterall the struggle on the sold-out First Direct Area, two 117-111 and the opposite 116-113, though Taylor will really feel aggrieved he did not obtain extra factors.
Taylor labored arduous on his jab within the early rounds, whereas the southpaw Catterall loved explicit success along with his left hook.
After a fortuitous conflict of heads within the second spherical, Taylor briefly had his opponent on the ropes, however Catterall responded with a flurry of lefts earlier than one other conflict of heads early within the third left Taylor reeling.
Catterall landed two lefts late within the fourth and appeared to take cost within the fifth, discovering vary along with his jab earlier than hurting Taylor with a sequence of lefts and rights that pinned the Scotsman towards the ropes.
Taylor regained his composure within the sixth regardless of a swelling beneath his proper eye, however Catterall’s punches continued to be extra exact and heavy.
Two brief rights from Taylor gave him the momentum within the seventh as each fighters traded blows and the Scot was once more more practical within the eighth to degree the struggle.
Catterall broke by means of his opponent’s defenses at first of the ninth and each boxers went head-to-head.
Taylor stalked his man within the tenth, now trying the extra threatening fighter, and landed a proper after which an uppercut.
However a thunderous straight from Catterall within the eleventh left Taylor in bother with little to separate the pair going into the ultimate spherical as they deadlocked.
The 2 fighters met for the primary time in February 2022 when Taylor retained his WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO belts in Glasgow by way of a controversial break up choice.
Most observers felt Catterall, from Chorley, had performed sufficient to win, and within the two years since, the fighters have traded insults in individual and on social media.
That second assembly – with out the belts – was postponed twice, first in January 2023 as a consequence of Taylor’s foot harm and once more in March this yr when the Scot had a minor eye drawback.
Taylor, who grew to become Britain’s first undisputed world champion within the four-belt period by defeating Jose Ramirez in Las Vegas in 2021, misplaced to American Teofimo Lopez final June in his solely struggle since assembly Catterall for the primary time.
The Edinburgh footballer now has a document of 20-2 to Catterall’s 29-1 and can now be clamoring for a decisive third assembly.
Earlier on the undercard, Jamaican-born Chev Clarke gained the vacant British heavyweight title by knocking out Lewisham’s Ellis Zorr within the eighth spherical.