Jack Catterall edged Josh Taylor in a thrilling rematch on Saturday night, but Bob Arum ripped into the judges’ scorecards.
The pair met in a grudge sequel at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, two years after Catterall was controversially denied what would have been a famous undisputed title win against Taylor in their opening meeting in 2022.
And the bad blood seemed settled in a barnstorming showdown, as Catterall had his hand raised after a sensational twelve-round war.
The judges scored the contest as 117-111, 117-111, 116-113 in Catterall’s favour by unanimous decision as he finally got his sweet victory.
But the decision seemed extremely wide, with the boxing world surprised by quite how dominant the officials made Catterall, especially Taylor’s Top Rank promoter Bob Arum.
Arum labelled the scorecards a ‘total disgrace’ in his post-fight interview, with the showdown once again thrown into controversy.
He shouted after the fight: “Those scorecards were a disgrace, an absolute disgrace.
“I really feel sorry for Josh, I thought he won the fight. Those scorecards were ridiculous.
“I will never, ever allow an American fighter to come here with the British Board scoring the fight. Those scores were ridiculous.”
Both men started on the front foot in the early stages, but it was the Englishman Catterall who looked to seize early control as he did in their maiden clash.
A back and forth contest continued in a thrilling second stanza, with both fighters’ faces showing signs of marking as Catterall seemingly gained the early edge.
Ferocious early exchanges continued in the early rounds with both fighters having success in spells, but the ‘Tartan Tornado’ was fired up and trying to raise the tempo.
Catterall’s elegant movement and neat counter-punching was causing problems for Taylor, but the Scotsman continued to trundle into the exchanges with aggression and intent.
‘El Gato’ continued to find his rhythm and his swift shots saw him in the ascendancy as the midway point passed by.
The thrilling exchanges continued in the seventh which caught fire as Taylor tried to wrestle back the initiative.
An all-action fight was being delivered once again, with Catterall’s dominance in the middle rounds being met by resistance from Taylor as he gained some control for himself.
As the championship rounds approached, it was anyone’s fight as the early aggressor Catterall’s dominance slowed and Taylor wrestled late momentum.
Catterall pushed for the finish in a bold eleventh stanza landing a thunderous shot, but it wasn’t enough to stop the contest.
The fight went to the judges’ scorecards and once again caused controversy, with Catterall handed a wide winning margin despite the close nature of the clash.
A trilogy now seems likely given the contentious scoring, with Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn keen to set up a third showdown.
Boxing WhatsApp channel
News Summary:
- ‘Those scorecards were a disgrace’ – Jack Catterall gets revenge over Josh Taylor but Bob Arum rages in rant about judges
- Check all news and articles from the latest Football updates.