Former undisputed world super-lightweight world champion Josh Taylor is in the fortunate position of having options, despite his comprehensive defeat to Teofimo Lopez last year.
In a recent interview, the Scotsman talked about his desire to rematch Lopez, who handed Taylor his first professional career loss in June at the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York. As a result, Taylor lost his WBO crown.
The war of words between Taylor and Jack Caterall since their highly-controversial 2022 contest has been ongoing, creating one of British boxing’s most notorious modern rivalries. The pair agreed terms for a rematch for an early 2023 encounter; however, since the pair’s 2022 contest, Taylor has endured multiple injuries, curtailing the prospect of it happening so far.
Despite the animosity with his English rival, Taylor has welcomed the prospect of a rematch. When recently interviewed by BBC Scotland, he reaffirmed that a Catterall rematch is one of his options moving forwards.
But the former undisputed champion has emphasized that Eddie Hearn, who promotes Catterall, needs to offer him more money after revealing that Top Rank had already rejected a proposal from Hearn for a Taylor-Catterall rematch.
“Hopefully, that’s the one we’re trying to get done,” Taylor told BBC Scotland. “I just want to shut a lot of people up and put that bad performance [against Catterall] to bed and put that doubt to bed.
“They [Matchroom] did put in an offer, but my promoters [Top Rank] didn’t put it to me. They said, ‘We’ve had an offer and said no’. They told me it was just about an 80 per cent pay cut. They came back with another offer which was essentially the same offer but taking away the American rights. Which means they were giving me the same money but my promoter would have to put in the rest of the money for their show.
“I just want to fight. And Eddie Hearn is in interviews saying it’s a big fight, a huge fight. So it’s like you’ve got to be realistic about what you’re going to pay the fighters. I’m waiting for all that to be sorted out. I really want to get that one done first and see what’s happening with fights further down the line.”
