Jake Cattrall defeated former undisputed world super lightweight champion Josh Taylor via unanimous decision in a thrilling rematch in Leeds.
Cattrall, who suffered a controversial split-decision loss to Taylor in Glasgow two years ago, landed the heavier punches to settle the score in one of the biggest grudge fights in British boxing in recent years. All three judges gave the fight to Cattrall in front of a sold-out First Direct Arena, with two having it 117-111 and one having it 116-113, although Taylor Will feel aggrieved because the score is not closer.
Taylor was busy with his jab in the early rounds, and Cattrall, a southpaw, was particularly successful with his left hook. After an unexpected head-butt in the second round, Taylor briefly pushed his opponent to the ropes, but Cattrall responded with a left hand and then another head-butt early in the third round that resulted in Taylor wincing.
Cattrall landed two consecutive left jabs at the end of the fourth and looked to take control in the fifth, finding his range with his jab before hurting Taylor with a series of left punches and right hooks that put Taylor The Scot is on the ropes. Despite a swollen right eye, Taylor regained her composure in the sixth, but Cattrall continued to land his punches with more accuracy and concentration. Two short right jabs from Taylor gave him momentum in the seventh and the two fighters traded blows, with the Scot proving more effective again in the eighth to level the score.
Cattrall broke through his opponent’s defense early in the ninth round and the two fighters went toe-to-toe. Taylor stalked his opponent in the tenth, now looking more threatening, and landed a right jab and an uppercut. But in the 11th, a thunderous straight punch from Cattrall put Taylor in trouble, and heading into the final round Taylor could barely separate the two men as they fought themselves to a standstill.
The two boxers first clashed in February 2022 when Taylor retained his WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO belts via a controversial split decision in Glasgow. Most observers thought Jolly’s Cattrall had done enough to win, and in the two years since, the boxers have traded insults in person and on social media.
The second meeting was postponed twice, first in January 2023 due to Taylor’s foot injury and the second in March this year when the Scot suffered a minor eye problem. Taylor defeated Jose Ramirez in Las Vegas in 2021 to become Britain’s first undisputed four-belt world champion, losing to American Teofimo Lopez last June , his only fight since facing Cattrall for the first time. The Edinburgh man’s record now stands at 20-2 and Catterall’s record at 29-1.
“I thought I clearly won the first game, but there was no decision,” Cattrall said. “While I thought I clearly won the game tonight, you never know, you see some of the scorecards. So, making this decision, of course, was a big relief for me.
“It has always been a dream of mine to win the world championship. We did not win the undisputed world championship [against Taylor] It doesn’t matter. That chapter is now written. I want to fight for the world title right now. [López] I beat Tyler before and now that I’ve beaten him I want to prove I’m better than him [López]”.
After the judges’ decision was revealed, Taylor’s promoter Bob Arum grabbed the microphone and launch into a tirade against them.
“Those scorecards are a disgrace, an absolute disgrace,” he complained. “I really feel bad for Josh, I thought he won this fight. Those scorecards are ridiculous. I would never allow an American boxer to come here and have the British committee score points in the fight. These The score is ridiculous.
