Catterall confident he'll open doors with Gethin win

Jack Catterall believes victory over Martin Gethin on Saturday night will open some big doors for him.
Jack Catterall. Photo: Kelvin StuttardJack Catterall. Photo: Kelvin Stuttard
Jack Catterall. Photo: Kelvin Stuttard

Chorley’s WBO Inter-Continental Super-Lightweight champion defends his title at the Manchester Arena confident he can continue his meteoric rise in the fight game.

The heavy-handed 23-year-old is 17-0 as a professional and is being tipped for top honours but knows victory over Gethin is far from a forgone conclusion.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Walsall man may have lost eight times in the paid ranks but has the experience edge and heads into Saturday’s contest on the back of a big win over John Wayne Hibbert.

The 33-year-old has shared the ring with Tommy Coyle and this weekend’s headline act Terry Flanagan amongst others and still feels he has plenty to offer.

For Catterall though it is a chance to make another statement with the show the first of a new deal between promoter Frank Warren and BT Sport.

“When I come through this one it’ll open up a lot of doors for me,” he said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“There are a lot of good fighters in my weight division both in England and around the world so there’ll be plenty of opportunities that come my way.

“I won’t look beyond this fight, though. I’ve got to do the job in style.

“I want to take advantage of the new BT deal with BoxNation.

“If I apply myself properly, live right and train hard then there’ll be many big nights ahead and big fights to look forward to.”

The super lightweight division is a packed one in the UK.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The brash and confident Ohara Davies established himself as a star of the future with his win over Derry Mathews while Scottish three-weight world champion Ricky Burns fights Julius Indongo in a big unification clash up in Glasgow later this month.

“I believe I’m at that level now and I believe that I beat both of those fighters,” said Catterall.

“A fight with Ohara Davies doesn’t really interest me but Ricky Burns has a world title and that’s something that I want to chase.

“He’s the only world champion from the UK at 140 and it’s good to have those belts over here.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“If that fight could be made in the future it would be massive.

“I want to 100 per cent break in to that top 10 and keep climbing the ladder.

“As the years go on and the fights keep getting delivered I can keep pushing forward and towards a world title.

“Boxing is a business and the one that makes the most sense for me is Ricky Burns. I think he’s the best route to catch a world title at the moment.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I’m not sure that it’s a fight that would be made to happen because he’s at the back end of his career and he’ll be looking for the big fights.

“There’s no rush for me. I’m only 23 and my time will come.”

Another potential opponent could be British champion Tyrone Nurse, the Huddersfield man having recently joined the Warren stable alongside Catterall.

Chorley’s El Gato was originally named the mandatory challenger to challenge Nurse before deciding to take a different route.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I beat Joe Hughes and was made mandatory but I had problems with my trainer and my manager (then Lee Beard),” he said.

“They wanted the fight to happen but I wasn’t in the right place and it wasn’t the right time.

“That’s a fight I would love, it would be nice to fight for a British title, but Tyrone Nurse isn’t the be all and end all and there are bigger fights out there.”

Terry Flanagan’s WBO World lightweight title defence against Petr Petrov headlines on Saturday night as double Olympic gold medalist Nicola Adams makes her professional debut.