Jack Catterall hits back at Josh Taylor for blaming his team for failed rematch negotiations, reveals plans to fight Regis Prograis for WBC title

Jack Catterall has slammed Josh Taylor for blaming him and his team for their failed rematch negotiations.

Taylor beat Catterall in controversial circumstances via a split decision in 2022 and a rematch was due to take place in the first quarter of this year.

However, this will not go as planned as Taylor injured himself, tearing a tendon in his heel.

Taylor has now been asked to make a mandatory defense of his WBO title against Teofimo Lopez, the former lightweight champion.

Speaking to talkSPORT, the 19-0 fighter blamed Catterall and his promoter Ben Shalom.

He said, “You left the fight, not me. If I’m Ben Shalom you’re going to focus on this, one of the biggest fights in the UK by far.

“Instead of leaving and focusing on getting another locked and loaded appointment, he left and brought Jack to another fight.

“They went into battle. What am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to wait for Jack now?

“Ben Shalom made his own fighter out of a mega fight. What if Jack had that fight and broke his hand, cut himself, hurt himself, or got knocked out?

“It’s the fight completely gone anyway. It’s a stupid decision on their part. All they had to do was wait a few weeks, for Ben to get a date locked in and it would have been done.

“I got an email from the WBO that says ‘we mandate you against Teofimo Lopez.’ is my title. I dropped all the other belts, but I keep the belt.

Catterall, however, insisted he wasn’t interested in a tick-tock fight and doesn’t think having a title on the line is necessary to warrant a rematch.

He admitted he had lost all faith that he would meet the Scottish boxer again in the ring.

Catterall told talkSPORT “Taylor got injured and it looked like he was going to fight Lopez. I think I’ve made it clear to my promoters and my team that I don’t want a tick-tock fight.

“We are continuing a fight with Régis Prograis. I will not fight in Manchester on March 25, we are in negotiations to fight Regis Prograis for the WBC world title.

“It was frustrating times. As of now, I’m training at the gym and we’re looking for a potential fight with Regis.

He continues: “Before the [Liam] Smith vs. [Chris] Fight against Eubank Jr, the Friday he retires and the following week he had already planned to fight Lopez.

“Since the two takedowns, ‘I’m not fighting at 140, I’ve freed up all these belts’, he’s got the WBO. The fight deserves a rematch without a world title.

“We saw a massive fight between Smith and Eubank Jr with no title on the line. If he’s so confident he’ll beat me then fight me and move on to 147.

“It’s not. I’ve lost total confidence to see Josh back in the ring. Injury after injury, the new coaches just can’t get it right.

“We filmed the gloves are off and he looked exhausted from the weight, probably over-trained, and that doesn’t fill me with confidence waiting for Josh to be ready.”