Jack Catterall has claimed that his dreams have been ‘stolen’ after his controversial defeat to Josh Taylor on Saturday night.
The boxing world united in outrage as a majority blasted the decision to hand Taylor an inexplicable victory Jack Catterall via split decision after their 12-round contest.
Taylor was dropped in the eighth round while both fighters had points deducted in a bout largely dominated by Catterall – but it was the defending champion who managed to hold on to his undisputed light welterweight belts.
Josh Taylor was controversially awarded defeat via split decision against Jack Catterall
Caterall had the better of the fight and even knocked Taylor down in the eighth round
Catterall took to Instagram in the early hours of Sunday morning to voice his frustrations after suffering the first defeat of his career in his 27th fight.
He said: ‘You know what hurts the most, it wasn’t for me I done all of this for my family my team my town and country. My baby girl and misses, our future.
‘Today I should of been waking up with all of the belts. 15 months out the ring, they all wrote me off.
‘F***** me in every way possible for over two years, finally got the fight. Sacrificed everything to fight one of the top p4p (pound for pound) ranked fighters, gave him a lesson. For what. Boxing shame on you.’
Catterall then finished his post by writing judges – followed by a raised middle finger emoji – ended with: ‘Dreams stolen’.
The 28-year-old had seemingly done enough to claim all four belts having sent Taylor to the canvas for the first time in his career in an overall accomplished performance.
Two people thought otherwise, however, and they were the ones who counted, with one judge scoring it 114-111 and the other 113-112 to send it Taylor’s way on a split decision.
One gave it 113-112 to Catterall and even that seemed harsh on the man from Crawley who had been the dominant fighter for most of the contest.
Given Taylor had also been deducted a point in the 11th round, the 114-111 scorecard from Ian John Lewis was especially eye-catching and the stunned reaction within the arena told its own story.
The man from Prestonpans had raised his hand at the final bell but it seemed more in hope than expectation. When the result, then, did go in his favour, Taylor showed no sign of relief or contrition, immediately ruling out the prospect of a rematch.
Catterall (left) stated that his dreams had been ‘stolen’ in a post on Instagram after the fight
‘I thought I’d done enough – 100 per cent,’ he said. ‘I started slowly as I tried to get my timing but I caught him with the bigger shots.
‘He tried to spoil, he leaned in a lot and there was a clash of heads. I’m not going to lie, he caught me with a couple of good shots as well.
‘It wasn’t my best performance. I put a hell of a lot of pressure on myself this week with the homecoming and my first fight here in three years. There was a lot of pressure as the big favourite. But I believe I started catching him with bigger shots.
‘It wasn’t my best but I thought I deserved it 100 percent. He put up a good fight but he knows he didn’t win the fight.’
Later in the night, Taylor commented: ‘I don’t care what people think. I won the fight.
‘On my best performance, Jack Catterall gets nowhere near me. That was a 60 per cent performance from me tonight, but I still won the fight.
‘On my best, he’s never going to beat me. That was Jack Catterall’s best-ever performance that he’s ever going to produce.
‘That’s not disrespecting to Jack Catterall, but I know I’m so much better than I was tonight. At 147, it’s a different ball-game for me.’
That was not the take from the Catterall camp or among any neutrals in the room and beyond. Ben Shalom, head of co-promoter BOXXER, called for an inquest into the decision, while Catterall’s trainer Jamie Moore was far stronger.
Taylor said he ‘didn’t care’ whether people thought he should have lost to Catterall
‘It’s difficult to put into words,’ he said, clearly furious. ‘Jack performs like that, beats the champion in his own back yard and gets absolutely robbed. It’s absolutely disgusting. He’s heartbroken.’
It wasn’t just those within the stadium scratching their heads, however, with a number of notable names taking to social media to voice their anger – particularly after the revelation that Catterall landed 166 punches to 85.
Carl Frampton tweeted: ‘I love Josh. I love Jack. But the wrong man got his hand raised.’
Carl Froch meanwhile simply stated, ‘Surely an upset’, while Dillian Whyte gave just one word: ‘Disgusting’.
Michael Owen took a stronger stance, insisting: ‘Boxing is such a great sport but decisions like that are a disgrace and call into question the integrity of the game.’
Sky Sports pundit Johnny Nelson was equally surprised and outraged, stating: ‘I am so surprised. I gave Taylor four rounds. That was it.
‘I can’t believe it and I feel so sorry for Catterall. It’s decisions like this which turn casual fans off. Josh Taylor did not win that fight.’
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