The feeling had been that it might not be the most entertaining Heavyweight clash, but there was no doubting the importance of a first Undisputed World Title fight for twenty five years.
However, all credit has to be given to both Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk who gave the fans a fight that will long be remembered.
Personally I thought Fury had been in very good form through the first six Rounds and looked to have hurt Usyk, but the Ukrainian has shown many times before that he can make the in-fight adjustments to turn things back in his favour. Once again he did that and the unbelievable Ninth Round will live long in the memory as we eventually had the right winner announced on the night and a genuine reason to have a rematch later in the year.
That would likely mean the IBF World Title is vacated and will be contested by Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois in early June with the winner lined up to take on Anthony Joshua in Autumn.
The only positive is that after the rematch between Usyk-Fury, we should hopefully be in line for another Undisputed Heavyweight fight much sooner than the twenty-five year gap between the one last Saturday and the Lennox Lewis-Evander Holyfield one in 1999. If Tyson Fury was to earn revenge in the expected rematch in October, the trilogy could make most sense for both fighters before they potentially walk off into the sunset, but there are a host of contenders now lining up to try and take over where they can and the Heavyweight Division has certainly come alive over the last several months.
There were some solid undercard results- Jai Opetaia is once again a Cruiserweight World Champion, while Anthony Cacace earned a World Title of his own after upsetting Joe Cordina.
Eyes will have begun to have been turned to the Five vs Five taking place in Riyadh a week on Saturday, but there is a big night in the United Kingdom in between the two Saudi events.
Last weekend we also had two upsets over in the United States and the Lightweight and Welterweight Division will have been given a jolt by the results seen. Denys Berinchyk's win over Emanuel Navarrete will have opened up a number of doors when it comes to a potential Unification in the Lightweight Division, while Brian Norman Jr became the Interim WBO Welterweight World Champion, a position that will be upgraded on August 3rd when Terence Crawford moves up to win a World Title in the Light Middleweight Division.
Much like Berinchyk, Brian Norman Jr was quick to mention a couple of the other Interim World Champions in the Welterweight Division and the next generation after Crawford and Errol Spence Jr could give up some big nights over the next twelve to eighteen months.
Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall II
In February 2022, Josh Taylor was the Undisputed Light Welterweight Champion having collected all of the Belts and he was a pretty significant favourite to see off Jack Catterall and then potentially move up to Welterweight to challenge the likes of Terence Crawford or Errol Spence Jr.
After a strong career, things seemed to unravel on the night and I am not the only person out there who thought Catterall had done enough to upset The Tartan Tornado.
Boxing does what Boxing does at times and it was actually Taylor who had his hand raised at the end of Twelve Rounds, despite also being put on the floor by Jack Catterall. Both fighters had a point deducted in what was a messy bout, but it felt like the Challenger had done just enough and there has been a personal issue between them ever since.
Josh Taylor has been dealing with injuries that have postponed the rematch a number of times, and he then decided to face Teofimo Lopez in New York City instead. That meant defending the last of the four Belts he had collected, but Taylor was beaten pretty comfortably and there has to be a real question about how much he has left in the tank with the long layoffs between fights.
Jack Catterall has every right to be frustrated with the decision from the first fight, but it was a real disappointment to not see him capitalise on the situation. Having the World Titles would have made a difference, but Catterall has allowed his career to stagnate while waiting for this rematch and this is only the third fight since Taylor-Catterall 1.
Wins over Darragh Foley and Jorge Linares won't have had many clamouring to see Jack Catterall take on the World Champions, but he can reignite things by beating Josh Taylor. He remains decently Ranked by all four bodies and working with Matchroom should mean Jack Catterall will be in line for another World Title shot if he can exorcise this mental demon.
It is Jack Catterall who will be going into the main event as the favourite- there are certainly more questions about Josh Taylor and the inactivity, injury and how much more motivation he has left in the tank. All of the right things are being said, which is not a surprise, but you do have to wonder if Taylor really believes he can become a two weight World Champion having struggled to make Light Welterweight for some time, but still not moving up.
This makes me feel that Taylor doesn't have the same desires as he once did, especially as Welterweight is now filled with some tough, tough fighters, but perhaps not those that would have given him the same kind of financial reward as fighting Bud Crawford or Spence Jr would have done.
In saying all that, it is not easy to back Jack Catterall considering how relatively one-paced he has looked in his last couple of fights. He is not the most exciting fighter, which can put off fans as well as judges against an aggressive fighter like Josh Taylor, but this is a main event where you can sit back and toss a coin.
Last week Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury surprised us all with the kind of excitement produced, but we have seen Taylor-Catterall once before and something similar might be seen. Another close decision either way is likely, although my lean would be that a slightly more motivated Jack Catterall may come through and edge Josh Taylor towards retirement.
The best Josh Taylor beats the best Jack Catterall (and I've long been a huge fan of Taylor and what he has achieved), but we have simply not seen the best of Taylor for a long time and you have to question how much is left in the tank.
The main event will be making the headlines, but there is a decent enough undercard this weekend, in between the two big cards in Saudi Arabia.
While not going to be as deep as those cards, there are still some interesting contests here in Leeds.
Gary Cully is looking to show how much he has learned from his one defeat by taking on a veteran in Francesco Patera.
He has to be careful not to get overly carried away about becoming the first to Stop Patera, especially as Cully showed he can be baited into a defeat. He should be good enough to come through on the cards, but this is much closer than some have listed.
Another Irishman looking to showcase his talents on the undercard, Paddy Donovan, is fighting Lewis Ritson, who is well known to UK fight fans. The latter has not really reached the heights that were once tipped for him and he is heading up to Welterweight for this one having been Stopped in his last outing at Light Welterweight by Ohara Davies.
A fourteen month layoff is not ideal and Paddy Donovan is certainly someone who hits very big and could be ready to make a statement and try and steal the show.
The Five vs Five Queensberry vs Matchroom card is taking place in Riyadh next week, but the two rival promoters are working together more than ever.
Last week it was Queensberry who earned bragging rights when Anthony Cacace beat Joe Cordina, but Eddie Hearn is confident in Cheavon Clarke, an unbeaten Cruiserweight contender who is hoping to put the British Title around his waist before moving up the World Rankings.
There are some talented fighters in this Division, domestically and on the World stage, and this is an opportunity for Clarke.
He is facing Ellis Zorro who was last seen being wiped out in a single Round by Jai Opetaia in December, but who did pick up a European Title prior to that.
Ellis Zorro has had some solid wins as he has gotten the most out of his career, but you do have to wonder how he has recovered from what was a devastating Knock Out defeat.
You do have to point out that defeat was against a genuinely World level fighter and arguably the man to beat at Cruiserweight, but it will have really dented the confidence and someone like Cheavon Clarke will test the Ellis Zorro resolve.
The unbeaten Cruiserweight has shown considerable punching power in his early professional career and the feeling is that Clarke will showcase more of that in this one. Ellis Zorro will come to fight, which should help Cheavon Clarke, and the latter might be able to put a statement win on the board before chasing some of the bigger names in the Division.
At one point he would have been headlining big cards on Saturday evening in the United Kingdom and Lawrence Okolie had signed with Boxxer hoping to Unify the Cruiserweight Division before moving up to Heavyweight.
The plan to hit the marquee Division has not changed, but Okolie would not have anticipated losing to former stablemate Chris Billam-Smith.
It was a really poor performance and almost exactly one year has passed.
The Sauce returns on Friday night and has to travel to Poland where he is taking on Lukasz Rozanski, who has surprisingly been out of the ring even longer than his opponent. The last time we saw the Pole, he was crushing Alen Babic in a single Round for the Bridgerweight World Title and this might be a sign that Lawrence Okolie is now bulking his way up towards the Heavyweight Division.
He will have to be careful.
This might not be a fighter of real note, but Lukasz Rozanski has already displayed he carries plenty of power and he will likely come right out of the traps looking for Lawrence Okolie.
However, that might be music to the ears of Okolie as long as he is ready to let his hands go, a criticism he faced in the losing effort to Billam-Smith. The former Cruiserweight World Champion has admitted that he has worked on this and Joe Gallagher is the latest trainer trying to help Okolie maximise his potential.
This could develop into a firefight as long as Lawrence Okolie is willing to trade with his opponent, one who will come forward, but who should be predictable and one paced.
With his big levers, Lawrence Okolie could really find a home for his right hand and counter Rozanski onto something big and he might just announce his return with some style.
The final fight making some headlines this week involves the return of Christian Mbilli who continues to make his name in Canada.
We last saw him winning in January and Mbilli is expected to take a big step up later in the year, as long as he can get through this one.
Mark Heffron is well known to UK Boxing fans, and this is an unexpected opportunity for him- the Third Round loss to Jack Cullen looked to be a career ender for the thirty-two year old, but Heffron still feels there is something left in the tank.
One victory over a journeyman has been parlayed into this big fight in Canada and Mark Heffron feels he has nothing to lose.
However, the punch resistance was concerning against Cullen, who is not exactly in wonderful winning form either side of that fight, and Christian Mbilli might be able to find the big shots early enough to force a Stoppage before announcing a big fight for the summer.
MY PICKS: Paddy Donovan to Win Between 1-5 @ 3.00 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Cheavon Clarke to Win Between 1-6 @ 2.00 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Lawrence Okolie to Win Between 1-6 @ 3.00 William Hill (2 Units)
Boxing 2024: 21-33, + 15.17 Units (74 Units Staked, + 20.50% Yield)
