Former undisputed super-lightweight champion Josh Taylor looks set to face Jack Catterall in a November rematch; Taylor has vacated the IBF, WBA and WBC titles since claiming a controversial split decision win over Catterall in February
Friday 26 August 2022 14:44, UK
Josh Taylor has officially vacated another of his super-lightweight world titles as the Scot remains on course for an eagerly-awaited rematch with Jack Catterall.
Taylor is set to offer a return bout to Catterall after preserving his status as a world champion with a controversial split decision victory in Glasgow in February.
But the Scotsman's mandatory commitments meant he was previously forced to vacate the WBA and WBC belts, while the IBF strap has now been relinquished by Taylor, leaving only the WBO belt in his possession.
"Yes I vacated and I will continue to do whatever it takes to be in a position to make the rematch with Jack Catterall happen," Taylor told Sky Sports.
"He [Catterall] is with [promotional team] BOXXER now and therefore it should be easy-peasy to make seeing as they work so closely with Top Rank."
BOXXER promoter Ben Shalom confirmed that fight is their target too. "We're very excited about Jack Catterall's future. We know the fight that Josh Taylor wants and we're working our best to make it happen," Shalom told Sky Sports.
"We hope that it will happen this year. It's a fight that everyone wants to see."
The IBF are now expected to order a vacant IBF title fight between Argentina's Jeremias Ponce and Puerto Rico's Subriel Matias.
Taylor's statement comes after his promoter, Top Rank boss Bob Arum, told Sky Sports News that the Catterall rematch is "almost there" and will likely take place in November.
"I think it's almost there. My legal staff are handling that and the last report I had was that everybody seems like they're on board," Arum said.
"It isn't signed yet, but I'm reasonably optimistic that the fight will take place. I think the date is the last Saturday in November, the 26th, and I would like to see if we could do it in Scotland, where the last fight occurred.
"[Josh] Taylor told us he was very disappointed with his performance in that fight, even though he felt he won and I thought he won, but it will be a good rematch as Catterall is a pretty good fighter."
Taylor (19-0) put together a series of stunning victories to establish himself as the division's undisputed champion, but Arum claims neither he nor his fighter are overly concerned about vacating three of the four belts.
"Josh sees things a lot like I see them," Arum said. "It's wonderful to be a unified champion, but if you're a unified champion it comes with a lot of baggage.
"Each of these organisations take three per cent out of your purse. Like Josh told me, after his last fight with Catterall - which was a four-belt unification fight - 12 per cent of his purse went to his organisations. That's so ridiculous!
"Whatever the fighter is making, he has to pay his manager, the training camp and then each of these guys three per cent. If he just fights for the WBO title then he'll only pay three per cent and that's a lot better, and it won't turn off even one fan.
"As far as the fans are concerned it's the fight, not the belts. It's okay to go after all the belts and be a unified champion, but once you're a unified champion, the prudent thing to do is give up three of the belts!"
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