Jack Catterall goes into the ring in front of a highly-partisan, 14,000 crowd on Saturday night knowing he is the underdog.

But his opponent, Prestonpans puncher Josh Taylor, was the underdog when he met experienced Ukrainian fighter Viktor Postol and he shocked the pundits by doing the business.

Taylor (pictured) puts his four world light-welterweight belts on the line in this much-anticipated battle between the fiercely proud Scot and the Englishman from Chorley in Lancashire.

The 28-year-old Englishman insists he can produce a shock and points to an unblemished 26-fight record and added: “I’ve won them quite comfortably.”

Catterall knows that he will face a wall of noise when he enters the ring and accepts that you can’t prepare for that.

However he added: “I believe I have surrounded myself with the right people and I know what to expect.

“The fans are not in the ring throwing the punches and the 17 years since I pulled on a pair of gloves have been leading to this.”

Taylor admitted he fears losing but the 31-year-old is appearing in front of a home crowd for the first time in nearly three years.

Apart from his four belts, the former Commonwealth Games gold medallist also puts his 18-fight winning record on the line.

Taylor’s reach is better than Catterall by two inches and the Scot is three inches taller. They pair clashed at the weigh-in at the SEC on Friday and had to be separated by security guards but Taylor said: “I’m calm under pressure.”

The pressure is really on when the bell rings on Saturday in the Glasgow Hydro. You can watch the fight on Sky.

image_pdfimage_print
Website | + posts

Experienced news, business, arts, sport and travel journalist. Food critic and managing editor of a well-established food and travel website. Also a magazine editor of publications with circulations of up to 200,000 and managing director of a long-established PR/marketing company with a string of blue-chip clients in its CV. Former communications lecturer at a Scottish university and social media specialist for a string of successful and busy SMEs.