Jack Catterall has always done his talking in the ring. For the boxing purists, that has been enough. Sure, if you’re hungry for a finish, you likely won’t find it in a Catterall fight – it has been five years since his last knockout – but if you’re satiated by in-ring intelligence and crisp technique, you can feast on Saturday.
As Catterall prepares to face Arnold Barboza Jr in an interim world-title fight, the Chorley boxer has been typically light on trash talk. Except, in a strange twist, against himself.
Ahead of Saturday’s WBO super-lightweight clash, at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena, Catterall has ironically shed the “boring” tag by embracing it. That is the point of a recent promo video, shared by Catterall’s (much-more-talkative) manager Sam Jones this week.
The video, set in the fictional town of “Borington”, begins with Catterall talking a friend through a spreadsheet of “colour-coded” training sessions and alphabetically-ordered yoga poses. “Over here, I log how many punches I’ve thrown in the last hour,” Catterall says, before adding, “1,327, not a round rumber... bugs me a litle bit, that,” with a well-acted hint of a wince.
After boring said friend to sleep, Catterall addresses viewers: “My name’s Jack Catterall, and for some reason, people think I’m boring. It doesn’t make sense to me.” Building on the self-deprecating tone, Catterall takes us through his hobbies – bird-watching and train-spotting – as well as his fashion sense: the same outfit, modelled on repeat.
The 31-year-old even engages with some colouring-in books, referencing the “present” he received from bitter rival Josh Taylor ahead of their rematch last year. The “petrol head” then voyages into Borington, while obeying the 5mph speed limit, of course. “People say I like rules,” Catterall says. “The truth? I live for discipline.”
He’s even able to forgive Jones for telling Barboza Jr that the American will probably “chin” Catterall – an Easter egg for the hardcore fans. Before facing Catterall in October, Regis Prograis, who would follow Taylor in losing on points, aired years-old audio of Jones trying to talk him into boxing “El Gato”. The clip revealed Jones saying Prograis would “flatten” Catterall, in an attempt at deceptive flattery.
The video crescendoes with highlights of Catterall beating up opponents and impressing fans. “Boring, boring, boring,” he says, before scoring a knockout. “So boring I put another one to sleep.”
Whether or not Catterall can sleep Barboza Jr on Saturday, a win would position him in a world-title fight, perhaps against Teofimo Lopez (on Alcatraz Island, no less, if Saudi’s boxing chief gets his wish). That would be Catterall’s first world-title bout since February 2022, when he was denied the undisputed titles in a highly controversial loss to Taylor.
Taylor, fighting on home soil in Glasgow, left the arena with all four major belts. Yet the moment made Catterall a cult hero. Later that year, Taylor vacated the IBF and WBC belts after being stripped of the WBA title, and he would lose his final strap – the WBO belt – to Lopez in 2023. Injuries led to failed attempts to book a rematch with Catterall, who outpointed Darragh Foley and Jorge Linares in the meantime.
When the Taylor vs Catterall rematch finally took place last May, the latter avenged his sole professional loss, winning a gripping bout. He proceeded to beat Prograis on points, recovering from a quasi-knockdown to drop the American twice. He had also dropped Taylor in their first fight, and Foley in their contest.
And while knockouts have eluded Catterall, along with a fresh shot at a world title, Britain’s most underrated boxer gets the chance to secure both on Saturday. Boring? Have a laugh.
Catterall vs Barboza Jr, live only on DAZN, 15 February. DAZN is the global home of boxing with over 185+ fights a year from the best promoters including Matchroom, Golden Boy, Queensberry, Misfits, PFL, BKFC and more.
