Catterall Targeting IBF Champ Paro If He Beats Prograis
Should Jack Catterall beat Regis Prograis on Saturday night, he’s made his next move clear – he wants a title shot against Liam Paro.
The Australian holds the IBF strap, and as the number 3 ranked contender, Catterall is in with a great shout of landing the shot. As well as a high IBF ranking, Catterall makes himself a favourite to make the fight because both fighters are promoted by Matchroom, making getting the deal done easy. The in-house promotions are far easier to make than the cross-promoter deals.
If we’re going to be brutal about things, it’s also probably the best option of the title fights for Catterall.
Paro is no pushover, and he currently has an unblemished record. The reason I think it’s the easiest fight for Catterall though is the other legitimate champions in the division are Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney – both are elite, so there’s easier fights out there. Facing Paro means there’s a title shot and respect in one go.
Jose Valenzuela is the easiest fight for Catterall to win a world title, but the WBA only rank the Chorley fighter at number 5, so making the fight would be much more difficult – there are other guys the WBA would prefer to give the shot to. If Catterall wants to take a shot at the WBA belt, he’d probably have to take a couple of ranking-building fights against WBA ranked fighters, and the question is… why would he do that?
Catterall Ready to Make the Next Step
Thanks to his performances against Taylor, Catterall would be deserving of a big headline of his own. I don’t see any issue with him selling out Liverpool’s Echo arena, or one of the big Manchester arenas. He’s an established name, and he’s never in a dull fight. He’s earned a chance at the big time now.
Boxing is huge in the north of England, and watching a local lad compete for a world title would get the fans out in force.
The robbery against Taylor in the first fight inflicted Catterall’s only loss, and having avenged that defeat he’s now a man on a mission. He’s expected to beat Prograis, although the experienced American won’t be an easy night for Catterall. Expect a relatively even fight with both men pressing the action. Personally, I’m expecting to see Catterall take a points win.
If, as I expect, he takes the win there’ll be a lot of calls for him to fight Paro.
With the Matchroom PR machine in full swing, and another chance for a British world champion, the fight will be the biggest night of Paro’s career – and it’ll easily match the Taylor fight for Catterall. It could even surpass it.
Watch this space. The super-lightweight division is about to get really interesting…
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