As much as i've championed Taylor in the past - and I don't think he is ducking - it's not great, and maybe a sign that his body is starting to break down and give up. The whole 'reason' that he underperformed in the first fight against Catterall was that the knee injury badly affected his camp, and making weight suffered - this does not bode well for him, and it must be a real ballache for El Gato as well. I'm not exactly looking forward to the rematch tbh, because the first was a bad matchup of styles, but this still blows!
That's why i put 'reason' in inverted commas - it's well documented what Taylor & his camp said about making weight & the knee injury - and anyone could see that Taylor was hugely out of sorts, whether that was the weight or a slippery & better than expected Catterall or both is another thing entirely. My point was really that another injury after what they said last time is a bad sign for Taylor and his camp.
You try to stuff a 160lbs sausage into a 140lbs wrapper one too many times then something's gotta give.
I think the ducking jokes are funny, but the idea that the guy is trying to duck by getting a few extra months as champ is hilariously stupid. If the fight is cancelled he's a duck, but postponing does literally nothing to help him avoid Catterall, he gains nothing by waiting a few months.
Very brave of Josh and his team to pull him out considering the circumstances of the rematch but it is 100% the correct decision. Need both fighters to be at peak condition with no injuries so they aren't cheating the public or their opponents out of the confirmation that the better man won and beat the opponent at his best. Will Catterall look to fight someone like Prograis or will he look to have a tickover fight to ensure the rematch isn't in potential jeopardy?