Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall agree re-match in early 2023 as war of words continues

Josh Taylor’s much-anticipated re-match against Jack Catterall has been agreed and will take place in Glasgow in March.

An official date announcement will be released in the new year, boxing promoter Ben Shalom has confirmed. Top Rank will co-promote the fight.

The news comes as Catterall hit back at Taylor’s suggestion that he wouldn’t need to make any tactical changes for a re-match. The Prestonpans puncher admitted his performance when edging their original bout at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow in February this year was his “worst ever”. It was enough to beat Catterall on a split points verdict and retain his clean sweep of world super-lightweight belts, but the decision was heavily criticised afterwards and the judging was investigated by British Boxing Board of Control.

Taylor told Sky Sports that he had changed his trainer to change his mindset and rid himself of complacency ahead of a re-match with the Englishman, but said his tactical approach would not need to change. Catterall said Taylor’s comments “didn’t make sense”.

He said: “I think he does need to change things. Likewise, going into the fight I will have to prepare differently. But for me it more about fighting Josh and getting the win this time. It’s about proving to the public who think Josh had an off-night that it wasn’t the case and that I belong at world level.”

Taylor, 31, was initially reluctant to offer Catterrall a re-match and had intended to move up a weight. But he now wants to prove the doubters wrong and vacated three of the four world title belts to get the fight on. He remains WBO super-lightweight champion.