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Undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh ‘The Tartan Tornado’ Taylor 19-0 (13) sees no reason for a rematch against Jack ‘El Gato’ Catterall 26-1 (13) following his hotly disputed 12-round split decision victory at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland on Saturday night.
The 28-year-old Catterall fought out of his skin while Taylor, 31, looked flat. The champion started slow and took a long time to work himself into the fight. Catterall dropped Taylor in the eighth but was deducted a point in the 10th for holding while Taylor was docked a point in the 11th for hitting after the bell.
The judges saw it 113-112 for Catterall and 114-111 and 113-112 for Taylor.
“I don’t think there is any need for a rematch,” WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF champion Taylor said. “I won the fight by several rounds. I won in the second half of the fight. I took over and bossed him.
“He was doing a hell of a lot of holding and spoiling. The ref taking the point off me helped him a little bit, but I still won the fight.”
Taylor was boxing for the first time in his native Scotland in almost three years. The homecoming fight against WBO mandatory contender Catterall was widely viewed as a routine defence ahead of more high profile bouts.
Instead, questions are being asked about Taylor’s ability to compete against the top dogs at 140 and 147 pounds.
“I started a little slow, but once I grabbed the momentum, I started catching him with the bigger shots,” southpaw Taylor continued.
“He was trying to spoil a lot. Going down and up a lot and clashing my head. He caught me with a couple of good shots. I’m not gonna lie to you. It wasn’t my best performance. I put a lot of pressure on myself with it being my homecoming. Been three years, first time since lockdown and all that. I put a lot of pressure on myself being the heavy favorite and it showed in the first half of the fight.
“Once I got my rhythm I started catching him with the bigger shots and catching him and catching him. It wasn’t my best performance, but I believe I got the win 100 percent. But Jack did very well.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself to put on a good show for my home fans. But it didn’t matter in the end. I got the good result.
“I knew I won the fight. It was close. Overall I scored the bigger shots, the better shots, the more meaningful shots so I know I won the fight. It was a little bit close, but I know I won the fight.”
Taylor has previously flagged a move up to welterweight, where Errol Spence Jr holds the WBC and IBF titles, Terence Crawford is the WBO boss and Yordenis Ugas has the WBA belt.
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