Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall shake hands after security guards separate pair

Sean McCormick
Jack Catterall and Josh Taylor

Boxing rivals Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall ended a third day of media promotion of their hotly anticipated rematch by making amends with a handshake.

The pair will meet in an all-British grudge match at super-lightweight in Leeds on April 27 as Catterall looks to avenge the highly controversial defeat he suffered at the hands of Taylor in February 2022.

Taylor put all four of his world title belts he held at the time on the line that night but many observers felt Catterall, who knocked Taylor down in the fight, should have won the fight.

But it was Taylor who emerged victorious, retaining his belts in a split division victory in front of his home crowd in Glasgow. The Tartan Tornado has since lost his world titles, losing his WBO strap to Teofimo Lopez last time out.

The two will finally meet again in the ring over two years on since the first fight and the build up this week has been nothing short of fiery.

Taylor and Catterall’s bad blood

The pair first came first to face again on Monday in Edinburgh and had to be separated by security when Catterall grabbed Taylor by the throat and the Scot pushed his English adversary away.

And things took another turn in the second press conference in Manchester on Tuesday, as Catterall slapped his rival before a vile insult from Taylor towards his opponent was caught on the microphones.

On the third leg of their media tour, the pair were in the talkSPORT studios in London on Wednesday to be interviewed by Jim White and Simon Jordan and three security guards were present to prevent further trouble.

In a much more civilised affair, the pair traded insults that were fit for live broadcast before White asked them to shake hands at the end of the interview to draw a line through a week of bad blood.

Catterall eventually reluctantly agreed and the pair shook hands before they head off to their respective training camps ahead of their April fight date.

About The Author

Sean McCormick is the Sports Editor at Dexerto. He has a BA in Sports Journalism and over the last seven years has worked as a writer, reporter and an editor across titles such as Chronicle Live, Leeds Live and Manchester Evening News covering the region's football clubs and sports stars. Sean loves football, boxing, MMA, darts and NBA. You can email him here: sean.mccormick@dexerto.com