Exclusive: Jack Catterall Ready to Step In for New York Super-Fight, Says Trainer Jamie Moore

Jack Catterall will face any of the planet’s leading super-lightweights next month, his trainer Jamie Moore has exclusively told SportsBoom, in what promises to be a stellar event in New York’s iconic Times Square is hit by late withdrawals.

Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia and Teofimo Lopez, who Catterall had hoped to challenge for the WBO belt until being beaten by Arnold Barboza Jr earlier this year, are all scheduled to appear on the ‘Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves’ card which is being promoted by Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy and Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn.

After defeating Catterall in a world title eliminator at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena last month, Barboza Jr’s battle against WBO king Lopez headlines the eagerly anticipated May 2nd show. 

The 31-year-old from Chorley had been expected to wait until the summer before returning to the ring but, revealing his charge has now resumed full training, Moore said: “If anyone drops out of that New York card, Jack will be ready to step in. There’s three big fights on that. Six top names all at the same weight and every single one of them is a really big fight."

“If any of them drop out - and there’s always that chance when it’s as stacked as that - then I’m sure the first person they’ll be on the phone to is Sam Jones who manages Jack. They’ll want to talk to him, for sure. And Jack is making sure that he’ll be ready. He’s always ready. That’s something he prides himself on.”

CUSP OF PERFECTION

Catterall, whose professional record now reads 30-2, was on the cusp of reaching the very pinnacle of his profession before finding himself on the wrong end of a split points decision to the still undefeated Barboza Jr. 

Catterall’s only other loss came at the hands of former undisputed champion Josh Taylor, again on points, before he won a rematch with the Scot nearly 12 months ago. 

Despite his recent set-back, Catterall remains a top five ranked fighter by both the WBO and WBC while the IBF position him at number eight.

Garcia, whose victory over Haney was ultimately ruled a no contest after he failed a drugs test, meets Rolando Romero on the undercard of Lopez versus Barboza Jr. Haney, a multiple champion in two different divisions, locks horns with Jose Carlos Ramirez who has previously held the WBC and WBO straps.

“One thing Jack won’t be doing is taking any rebuilding fights,” Moore promised. “He doesn’t want those and he doesn’t need those either."

“There’s a few names being bandied about. There’s a few avenues out there for us to explore, because he’s still recognised as being right up there with the very best. But, I tell you what, if an opportunity arises in New York then he’d be straight out there.”

SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP

Catterall’s promotional relationship with Hearn means he should be well-placed to secure a call-up should Haney, Garcia, Barboza Jr, Romero or Ramirez prove unable to take part.

Attributing his below par performance against Barboza Jr to fatigue, having also shoehorned a clash with Regis Prograis in between his battles against Taylor and the Mexican/American, Moore said: “I haven’t watched it back yet and, in all honesty, I might not, because we all know it wasn’t the real Jack in there."

“He was flat on the night and I think he was just tired, looking back. He didn’t have the gears to go through the later rounds. He didn’t have a rest between those three fights."

"He’s taken some time off, because he needed it, and now he’s refreshed. That break, I think, was much-needed and has done him the power of good.”