Jack Catterall isn’t giving up on his hopes for a world title shot against WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez.
Catterall (29-1, 13 KOs) took to social media today, sending a message to Teofimo (20-1, 1 KOs), telling him that he would fly him to “neutral grounds” for a fight in Saudi Arabia and saying that His Excellency Turki Alalshikh is the one that can make a fight between them.
Catterall’s Saudi Proposal
“I can see Teofimo Lopez got the most votes. Let’s do it when you finish with [Steve] Clagget. Don’t worry, I’ll fly to you, or we can meet on neutral grounds in the Kingdom. Turki Alalshikh is the man to do it,” said Jack Catterall on X.
Alalshikh has a lot of better options for fights involving Teofimo Lopez than Catterall, who fights a lot like Shakur Stevenson, with the jabbing, moving, and constant holding. The fighting style that Catterall is very, very boring to watch. There are many more entertaining fighters that Teofimo can fight in the 140-lb division than Catterall, and some of them would sell.
Unfortunately, Catterall’s lack of marketability makes a fight against Teofimo, Devin Haney, or any of the popular fighters at 140 highly unlikely. His promoter, Eddie Hearn, needs to sit him down and let him know that he’s not in the same ballpark, popularity-wise, as the guys he wants to fight.
Catterall should listen to his promoter, Eddie Hearn, and consider a third fight against Josh Taylor or wait until the smoke clears from IBF light welterweight champion Subriel Matias’ title defense against Liam Paro on June 15th.
Hearn promotes both of those guys, so it’s a doable fight between the winner of the match and Catterall. The money that Catterall would make fighting the Matias-Paro winner would likely be far less than what he’d get in a fight against Teofimo, and his chances of beating either of those guys would be slim.
Catterall isn’t going to beat them by clinching and jabbing like he did against the faded Josh Taylor. Those guys will take Catterall’s head off and won’t be pretty to watch.
Teofimo’s Promoter Unlikely to Budge
As far as Catterall’s dream of fighting Teofimo, it’s not happening. It’s a fight that won’t sell on PPV, as Catterall isn’t known in the U.S. and isn’t even a star in his own country, the UK. Teofimo’s promoter, Bob Arum, isn’t going to want anything to do with Catterall after the lopsided scores the judges handed in for Josh Taylor’s fight last Saturday night.
If Catterall wants a world title shot against WBO champion Teofimo, he should earn the fight by working to become the mandatory challenger instead of campaigning for it:
Path to a Title Shot
Fighting these guys would be a good start for Catterall if he wants to earn a title shot against Teofimo:
– Gary Antuanne Russell
– Jamaine Ortiz
– Shohjahon Ergashev
– Arnold Barboza Jr.
– Elvis Rodriguez
– Jose Ramirez
– Richardson Hitchins
If Catterall beats two or three of these contenders, he’ll likely earn the WBO mandatory position to force a title shot against Teofimo. Apart from that, Catterall’s chances of fighting Teofimo are dim.
I don’t see Catterall beating any of the fighters on the above list unless the judges are scoring the fight like they did in his rematch with Taylor. With those kinds of scores, there isn’t a fighter in the division that Catterall can’t beat.
