Taylor should have agreed to Manchester and done 20k tickets. Closer to home for Jack but I reckon Taylor would thrive off going into enemy territory and getting booed etc.
Was there for the weekend when the Real McCoy done Brodie with a bodyshot then also present when Hatton won his World Title against Kosta Zoo in the same great venue. The glory days for boxing fans and a great weekend to be had in Manchester.
Wonder if this is genuinely a cash out for Taylor, and if he's a faded/shot fighter? Especially after some truly brilliant performances and achievements. Catterall won that fight, no question, irrespective of Taylor's well documented issues beforehand, he'll never get an opportunity to change his life and be an undisputed champion again, I'm not a fan of Catterall, but he's an awkward, cagey fighter nonetheless. No idea if Taylor will have anything at all at 140. I suppose that's part of the intrigue, not the "beef"
Good points and think that maybe the curtain comes down on Taylor’s fantastic career here if he does lose. He’s always been matched tough and he’s been great, a proper world champion, ranked number 1 in the world at his best. I think he will win a split decision in this one, in another ugly fight. He will then most likely chase Lopez, before hopefully retiring.
Such a quick fall from grace as well. No idea why he fought Catterall, he should have vacated and gone up to have a bash at 147. Was the Catterall fight big money??? I doubt it, he should have taken all the setbacks as a sign and pulled out. Shame that the furore over the Catterall fight has seemingly overshadowed his fantastic achievement as a proper proper world champion in such a short career.
I’ve only been to the venue three times. Once to see the Sex Pistols another time to see Depeche Mode and only one boxing card which was David Haye v John Ruiz. I went with my wife. We bumped into Ricky Hatton in a pub in the centre of Manchester who we chatted to for a while. It was a great night with the pubs and food ( Bem Brazil )
I’m sure I’ve seen somewhere that he got around $1.5 million for the Catterall fight. I would have thought it was more than that tbh as I’ve seen a report whereby he apparently declined an offer from Matchroom as it was an 80% drop of his original purse v Catterall. So if the $1.5 million dollars was accurate. Matchroom have come in with an offer around £250000 for Josh. Yeah right.
Interesting that. Wonder what he's worth now that has made him take this uninspiring contest (the controversy notwithstanding)
As they had sparred a lot previously I think Taylor thought it would be a straightforward first defence at home. In hindsight it was an awful choice.
