THIS weekend, Jack Catterall, 30-1 (13 KOs), hopes to move one step closer towards the WBO super-lightweight world title as he collides with Arnold Barboza Jr, 31-0 (11 KOs), in a bout for the vacant WBO interim strap, atop a Manchester card littered with domestic talent.
Ahead of what will be a second card staged at the newly opened Co-op Live Arena in as many weeks, we at Boxing News took a look at five key talking points.
CAN CONNER TUDSBURY MAKE A BIG IMPRESSION ON HIS PRO DEBUT?
Matchroom announced the signing of 2018 Youth World Championship bronze medallist Conner Tudsbury back in October, with the Mancunian training alongside Catterall under the stewardship of Jamie Moore and Nigel Travis ahead of his professional debut.
Following the announcement, Tudsbury’s manager Sam Jones declared that the 24-year-old will “cement his position as the best light-heavyweight in Britain within 18 months”, and hard-hitting Tudsbury will set the wheels in motion for that ambitious target on Saturday night, where he fights under the professional spotlight for the first time.
In the away corner awaits Angolan-Belgian Sadaam Caetano, 7-5 (5 KOs), who dropped Ben Rees before being stopped himself in his lone fight on British back in November 2023.
With frightening power promised by Jones, Eddie Hearn and Tudsbury himself, it should be expected that the debutant will hand Caetano a third straight knockout defeat and anything less would have to be considered as a disappointment.
IS ROBBIE DAVIES JR. BEING DISRESPECTED?
Robbie Davies Jr, 24-5 (15 KOs), is a former British, Commonwealth and European super-lightweight champion, fresh from a victory over a former world champion in Javier Fortuna, yet here he is lining up against Pat McCormack, 6-0 (4 KOs), as a monumental underdog.
There is no denying that McCormack is a special talent. As the Tokyo 2020 silver medallist, it is pleasing to see the now 29-year-old being matched against recognisable names, even if it is one from the weight class below.
Yet, with just one fight since July 2023, having not fought anyone with accolades that can compare to that of veteran Davies – this contest could definitely be closer than many are anticipating.
If the Liverpudlian underdog’s recent meeting with Sergey Lipinets is anything to go by, McCormack needs to be well prepared in case of a possible barnburner.
WILL REECE BELLOTTI CONTINUE HIS RICH VEIN OF FORM?
After years of seeming to be a domestic nearly-man, the forever game Reece Bellotti, 19-5 (14 KOs), finally got his hands on the British super-featherweight title when he dethroned Liam Dillon twelve months ago and went to defend the title against Levi Giles in July, winning both bouts via unanimous decision.
In October, ‘The Bomber’ was set for a third outing of the year against Michael Gomez Jr, 21-1 (6 KOs), until the challenger pulled out with just an hour to go until the opening bell, citing a kidney infection as the reason for his withdrawal.
Visibly frustrated, Bellotti famously fumed during a DAZN interview upon hearing the news and later told Boxing News that he did not believe Gomez’s illness to be the true cause of his decision not to fight.
“He f*****g melted, pretty simple. There’s no other reason for it because that would never happen to me. I’m f*****g gutted. I put my body through hell every time I fight. I put my body through hell to get to that stage.”
Now Bellotti will finally get the chance for vengeance after enduring an arduous camp and weight cut without reward last time around, seeking a sixth consecutive win that would put him one away from winning the Lonsdale Belt outright.
COULD ZELFA BARRETT MOUNT A WORLD TITLE CHARGE THIS YEAR?
Zelfa Barrett, 31-2 (17 KOs), proved himself to be a world-level operator when he gave Shavkat Rakhimov a run for his money in a challenge for the IBF world title in late 2022 but ultimately fell short when he was halted in the ninth-round of the match-up.
Since then, Barrett (WBA #6, IBF #6) has strung together three straight wins and impressed when he stopped the in-form Jordan Gill in his most recent bout, ten months ago, scoring a first win inside of the distance in six appearances.
‘The Brown Flash’ is now tasked with former IBO featherweight champion James ‘Jazza’ Dickens, 34-5 (14 KOs), with the victor likely to move on to an eliminator for world honours next.
Barrett seemed to put more spite into his punches against Gill and that may well have been the missing ingredient for Barrett to elevate himself into world champion material – a strong showing here could put the division on notice.
IS JACK CATTERALL READY TO FACE TEOFIMO LOPEZ?
Despite not scoring a knockout win since 2019, Jack Catterall sticks out as one of Great Britain’s most likeable and well-supported characters, developing in front of our eyes into a skilful world title challenger after being controversially defeated by Josh Taylor in 2022.
The Chorley fan-favourite will headline a fourth consecutive card in the U.K. as he goes toe-to-toe with Barboza Jr. with the WBO interim belt and a shot at Teofimo Lopez’s full world title up for grabs in a potential stylistic match-up that doesn’t seem to bode well for ‘The Takeover’ on paper.
That being said, Barboza has proven a difficult opponent to overcome himself, unbeaten in his 31 professional contests and holding wins over former world champions in Jose Pedraza and Jose Carlos Ramirez, although he was also the beneficiary of a favourable split-decision when he fought Sean McComb last year.
Meanwhile, wide wins over Jorge Linares and Regis Prograis have convinced British boxing fans that Catterall is ready to step up and finally claim world honours and a similarly dominant display against America’s Barboza may be enough to convince those across the pond and elsewhere in the world that he has what it takes to overthrow Lopez.
