LEEDS, England — Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall faced off one last time before their highly anticipated rematch at an emotional weigh-in on Friday.
In the junior welterweight bout, Taylor came in top at 139.6 pounds while Catterall came in top at 139.8 pounds.
After a calm news conference on Thursday, tensions rose again as a raucous crowd came out to support them and cheered and jeered in equal measure as both players took to the stage.
The two exchanged words in another lengthy standoff before being separated.
“That's the end of the story, I'm now fully focused on Saturday night and keeping my eyes peeled because it's going to be a great fight,” Catterall said.
“It's been a long camp but we've done everything that was asked of us. We're all set for tomorrow's game. We just need to get going again.”
Taylor was equally focused and ready to enter the ring.
“We just have another game this week, another game tomorrow night. All the training is done, now I can't wait for tomorrow,” Taylor said.
“I'm going to feel good tomorrow, I'm going to feel good when I win, I'm going to feel good when I'm working.”
Taylor, a former 140-pound world champion, has spoken about moving up a weight class, raising questions about whether the rematch will take place at junior welterweight.
There's a lot at stake for both fighters after their controversial first bouts of 2022.
A win would set up a big fight in a division loaded with talent like Subriel Matias, Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez.
But a loss would be a disaster for either player.
On the undercard, Paddy Donovan will face Lewis Ritson at welterweight and Gary Curry will face Francesco Patera at lightweight, while Cheevon Clark and Ellis Zoro will face off at cruiserweight before the main event.
