Ricky Hatton: My Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall prediction, an upset is possible

In his latest column, the British boxing legend rates Jack Catterall’s chances of causing a huge upset against Josh Taylor with son Campbell also set to return to the ring this weekend.

Jack facing a tough task in Scotland

It is a hard one for me. I’m hoping Jack Catterall can pull off a shock and get the win against Josh Taylor. He is trained by a mate of mine in Jamie Moore and I have known him a good few years. He has been in the gym sparring with my boys, he is a great kid.

For him to be challenging for the undisputed super-lightweight championship of the world, I feel very proud.  But it is a big ask for him. When you look at Josh Taylor you are looking at the pound-for-pound elite and he will go down arguably as the greatest Scottish fighter of all time. As it stands now, he is right up there with the very best in the world.

But stranger things have happened…

But I remember when I was set to fight Kostya Tszyu. He was the strong favourite. At the time, all I kept hearing is: ‘It’s all about levels’. People said I couldn’t do it but I went out there and got the win, got the upset not many people were expecting.

We have always had those over the years, the big upsets. There always have been and there always will be. That is the way Jack has got to look at it. Sometimes, it is just all about timing. Jack is young, he is hungry, he is unbeaten, he has ambition and he has got the belief.

Jamie Moore said to me he has raised his game in the gym, he has gone up those extra few gears with his performances and in his desire. Stranger things have certainly happened – it happened to me so why can’t it happen to Jack?

It will be like walking into the lion’s den up there in Scotland but I remember Michael Gomez doing the same, heading up to Edinburgh and knocking out Alex Arthur. Arthur was the rising star and nobody gave Michael a chance that night. These things happen. Jack has got to believe that.

I’m hoping Jack can do it – but as for a prediction, I have to go with Josh to retain his belts on points.

Taylor will make welterweight move

Josh has got all the belts and he has cleaned up the division. I didn’t quite manage to get all the belts, Kostya Tszyu vacated a couple of them before we fought. But I beat him for the IBF and Ring Magazine belts before unifying against Carlos Maussa with the WBA.

I didn’t quite have as many as Josh but even at the time, I always thought the next move was to move up and try to do what my heroes had done in becoming a two-weight world champion. I think Josh will certainly want to tick that box.

For me it wasn’t a difficult decision. Josh has a very good team behind him and he has got a good head on his shoulders. Only he will know if he is capable of doing it, how big he can get at that weight, all those things will be taken into consideration.

But I think it will be the right move. Welterweight is where the money is for Josh with those super-fights against the likes of Terence Crawford.

Campbell has rediscovered his confidence

Campbell is back out this weekend on the Lawrence Okolie vs Michal Cieslak card in what will be his sixth professional fight.

Without going over old ground again, Campbell took a bit of a ripping on social media following the Sonni Martinez win. But he came straight back in his next fight to get the knockout win over in Bilbao in December with his best performance yet.

Going out there did loads for him. He was a bit down with the stick he got, so to come back and perform like that was brilliant. We have convinced him now – the only thing you should be bothered by is if I’m not happy or if his trainer Matthew is not happy, or Eddie Hearn isn’t happy. That is when you should be worried.

But when it is someone on the internet, you’ve just got to crack on because that is always going to happen, that is the world we live in now. That performance in Spain will have done his confidence the world of good.

Rea and Nadim shine on Khan vs Brook card

It was a brilliant night last Saturday for Bradley Rea and Ibby Nadim. I am very proud of everyone in the gym with how they are progressing. Me and Blain Younis must be doing something right!

Brad looked sensational and has done the last couple of years. He stayed in the gym during lockdown, came out and destroyed Lee Cutler before showing he has the heart and can dig in against Jez Smith. On Saturday, he impressed us so much against Craig McCarthy. I don’t think there are many prospects in the country better than Brad at the minute.

Ibby meanwhile just keeps getting better and better. He has been in there with tricky opponents, the journeymen type who are just looking to survive. Sometimes they are the most difficult ones to look good against but he is doing just that.

He will end up looking even better when he is fighting lads who show a bit more ambition, who come to beat him. At this stage of his career, he is doing exactly what he needs to do and I’m very happy with his progress.

Chloe Watson should be back out soon, possibly in April, and Brett McGinty is back over this week from Ireland so hopefully we will have him out around that time too. He had a shoulder injury last year but he has been back home getting treatment for it and he’s started back over here now. He has to nurse it a little bit but the injury looks to be behind him. Everything is looking good for our fighters.

Fightzone for free while Collins impresses again

Ahead of Josh Taylor’s big night on Saturday, a few other Scots did the business on Fightzone last week. Sam Kynoch and Dennis Hobson delivered another cracking card in Turnberry with David Jamieson picking up the IBO international cruiserweight belt after 10 tough rounds against Samo Jangirov.

Nathaniel Collins delivered another emphatic win to keep his momentum going. The commonwealth featherweight champion stopped Uriel Lopez in the third round with another great performance to make it a perfect 10 in his 10 professional fights.

Fightzone has got off to a good start to 2022. More importantly for UK fight fans, it is now free to watch for the first three months (£1:99-a-month after that). It is already looking like it’s going to be even bigger this year with fights moving to new destinations in the UK and even oversees so there is plenty to come.

Get all the Fightzone action free for three months – visit www.fightzone.uk to subscribe

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