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Agreed. Though I'm actually going to be cheering Teofimo Lopez over Josh Taylor if that fight happens. Taylor is an incredible fighter but he lost against Catterall and the way he has behaved since and now avoiding giving him a rematch is shameless.

It's not like Lopez is likable either but I just can't support Taylor after his antics.
 
Lopez in many ways did the same to Lomachenko. I don’t necessarily agree with Taylor but I’ll still cheer him over Lopez, I don’t like him or his dad.
 
In fairness to Lopez though, he actually beat Loma. There is no way anyone can watch the Taylor or Catterall fight and say Josh won that fight.

Lopez Sr is a gargantuan ass though, that is for sure
 
He did a hit and run on what was a close fight, with Loma claiming he had an injury. Rather than the rematch where I personally think he would’ve got beat, him and his Dad went on an ego trip and karma immediately stuck vengeance.

Lopez like Catterall didn’t do the hard work or fighting champions and unifying multiple belts, they bought a lottery ticket.

I will give Taylor a lot of benefit of the doubt and I suspect this is a Bob Arum decision, rather than a Taylor decision.
 
I do think Loma could've beat him in a rematch but Teo had a significant size advantage over him, not that I'd have bet against Loma. Though I think Haney stands a good chance against him but I still wouldn't put money on it.

Catterall was a mandatory and the reason Taylor was able to become undisputed was because he took step-aside money in the first place. You can argue it was a lottery ticket but it was a lottery ticket he was entitled to by working into a mandatory position. He won that fight and was robbed by the judges for what should've been a life changing night for him. He would've rightly been the undisputed champion as he would've comprehensively beaten the active champion at the time. He'll likely never have a chance to become undisputed again with how the belts get spread about like dragon balls. I've watched that fight 3 times now and I struggle to give Taylor a win even when I really try to.

Taylor is talented enough that he could make adjustments and win the rematch, that I don't doubt one bit. The issue is Catterall was in a mandatory position and shouldn't need to have to have a rematch to win what he should've won in the first place.
 
I thought unifications trumped mandatory’s? And Taylor did fight his mandatory and we know what happened. I think a lot of people get lost in the fact that it was the judges that messed up that night, the backlash Taylor got was unacceptable but it would’ve been a wake up call for him.

Why is he or should he do what the fans want him to do, or what Catterall wants? The fans as fickle as ever turned on him at the first sign of adversity, just like they’ve done to Joshua, like they did to Froch. Froch is interesting because he said on that top 5 super middle weight clip that for the Kessler fight, don’t insult the man give him a proper share of the fight, for the Groves rematch he felt hard done by, by the fans and by boxing so out of spite he made sure Groves got the raw end of the deal because he really didn’t like him. I get the same vibes from Taylor towards Catterall.

It don’t make it right but so be it. Fans are mercenaries, the fight game is brutal. Dog eat dog.
 
Unifications can sometimes trump mandatories but not always. Certain organisations, IBF especially, are very strict with their mandatories. In this instance Catterall would've agreed to a unification taking place before his mandatory shot as he had been paid to wait.

Fans are fickle but there are fans, like myself, who actually want to see the sport fairly judged and in a transparent manner. It happens far too often where an 'away' fighter gets jobbed on the cards. There's giving a close fight to the home fighter/A-Side and then there is a blatant robbery. I can take a close decision going to the bigger name fighter, it happens. But actual robberies, which there aren't many I think are outright robberies, really rub me the wrong way. Boxing is a brutal sport and in the words of SRL; "You don't play boxing". I want to see all fighters get treated equally and have a fair shake and not be like Canelo in Vegas where he is 4 rounds up before the first bell.

The IOC has their own issues but when even they are stepping away from boxing the organisations need to have a long look at themselves. Boxing really needs an international governing body because it's set up more like a business than an actual sport. That's why boxing is essentially entertainment first rather than sporting excellence because it's not run like a sport at all. Using that as a segue, is why I have no issue with 'YouTuber' boxing, Misfits etc and why I am quite looking forward to watching Jake Paul batter Tommy Fury around the ring.
 
These are all rumours as it stands but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Lopez/Taylor go ahead.

I don’t think it’s a duck their is probably multiple reasons, pressure from Top Rank as it’s a bigger, in house fight, a serious dislike/ spite from Taylor, money/getting on a bit now so doing what’s best for him.

He should fight Catterall but if he does he’s going to do it on his terms now I think. Cattterall can always target Prograis for his belt, Prograis won’t turn him down I don’t think.
 
Prograis is no slouch though. I just think his style, that night, worked really well to neutralise Taylor. Taylor is an exceptional fighter so I'd imagine he can make the right adjustments but I'd expect that mentally it's easier going into a fight with someone you know you beat already (and having them know that too) than it would be going into a fight against someone you haven't boxed with before
 
Just read Eubank has activated the rematch clause, unless he puts some serious work in to his sloppy defence and non existent head movement I can’t see the outcome being much different.
 
Robert Smith gave an interview to Simon Jordon for TalkSport (yes I know) the other day and he provided some details on what happened re the Benn failed tests and what's still to come. He said the boxing board were informed about Benn's first failed test in July however the very next day after finding out, they received a letter for lawyers representing Benn warning them that it's a VADA test and therefore none of the British Boxing Board's business. He went on to say that the board were initially happy to let the WBC deal with the first failed test however when the 2nd positive test came back and there had still been no movement from the WBC re the first failed test, the board decided to pull the Eubank fight. He said the delay between the 2nd failed test and the fight being pulled was because the board were taking legal advise on the matter. When asked about whether Benn could dodge (or words to that effect) any sanctions from the board by boxing with another license, Smith made it clear that in order to box in the UK Benn would still need to get some sort of license from the british board and he made it clear that until this matter is resolved, Benn won't be fighting in the UK. He also hinted at possible action being taken against the two promoters.

Hopefully he's true to his word and the board do block Benn fighting under another license in the UK until Benn plays ball with their investigation. If he's innocent then prove it but Benn's attitude since the fight has been embarrassing and with the sadly predictable news that he/Hearn tried to bully the board with legal threats, he deserves everything that comes his way.
 
It's annoying I was getting ready to get onto the Benn train as he started showing massive improvements and was quite exciting (lol it's so obvious now and Felix Cash too) then this happened... If he had just held his hands up and admitted what happened I'd likely still be a fan. But he went the other way, attacking people and acting as if we, the punters, were idiots.

Now, I couldn't give two poos about what he does next. He could've been the face of Matchroom and DAZN in the UK and he fumbled the bag. idiot.

In another idiot of the day. Why do I feel the Fury Usyk fight isn't going to happen and Fury is avoiding it. I'm not saying he is scared of Usyk but I certainly think he is scared of losing to Usyk. The fact people act like he is an ATG is bonkers. I've said it countless times in this thread.
 
It might have been yourself that suggested it previously but it appears that there just isn't the level of interest from the Middle East for the fight than what they hoped. I guess if the mega money isn't on offer then he's thinking why take the risk.
 
Looks like the WBO ordered Taylor to fight Lopez due to his postponement of the Caterell fight due to injury.

WBO chairman Luis Batista Salas outlined the terms of the fight in an official letter which stated: "In the wake of the recent postponement of the Josh Taylor-Jack Catterall WBO voluntary title defence, the WBO world championship committee is hereby ordering the commencement of negotiations for the mandatory title defence obligation in the junior-welterweight division between Josh Taylor and Teofimo Lopez.

"The camps herein are granted 10 days upon issuance of this notice to reach an agreement or purse bid proceedings shall be conducted pursuant to WBO regulations of world championship contests.
Click to expand...
www.skysports.com

Josh Taylor says 'cry-baby' Jack Catterall can wait as WBO orders mandatory Teofimo Lopez title defence

Josh Taylor suffered the horrendous pain of a torn plantar fascia tendon as he was preparing for Jack Catterall rematch; now the WBO has ordered Taylor to make a mandatory defence against American star Teofimo Lopez; the Catterall fight can still happen further on down the line
www.skysports.com www.skysports.com
 
Doobedoo said:
Got to give Wood a shed load of credit for taking this fight. I hope he wins.
Click to expand...
Got more bottle than Warrington who ran to the hills from a proper fight with Lara after headbutting him out of the rematch.

Think this is a very tall order for Wood, he got away with being caught by Conlan, he won't tonight.
 
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