IN A TRULY bizarre turn of events, it would seem that Ryan Garcia – who, oddly enough, was in the mix to face Jack Catterall – has been trumped by none other than Ekow Essuman.
The unexpected story began to take shape shortly after Rick Reeno, the CEO of Ring Magazine, publicly lambasted Catterall’s lacklustre encounter with Harlem Eubank.
Indeed, it was far from a compelling clash of styles between the two welterweights in June, with the Chorley man ultimately securing a technical decision victory through six completed rounds of minimal action.
As for Reeno’s comments, Catterall, 31-2 (13 KOs), swiftly took to social media in response, poking fun at the American’s appearance in a light-hearted post on X.
It was not long, then, before the 32-year-old seemed to capture the imagination of boxing paymaster Turki Alalshikh, who promised to offer him a lucrative opportunity for his next outing.
Since then, it would appear that Garcia, 24-2 (20 KOs), who comes off a shock defeat to Rolando Romero in May, has been mooted as a possible opponent for Catterall.
Not only was it a poor night at the office for Garcia in New York, but it was also a nightmare return following his failed Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) test last year.
He had, of course, edged a majority decision – which was later overturned to a no-contest – against Devin Haney in April 2024, only to then test positive for ostarine, a banned substance, before serving a year-long ban.
In any case, though, it seems that Catterall’s promoter, Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn, has set his sights on an alternative opponent.
“Ryan Garcia was mentioned just a couple of weeks ago, when I was with [Alalshikh] in New York,” Hearn told Boxing News.
“I think that’s a great fight [but], for me, one fight that we’ve been looking at domestically is Jack Catterall against Ekow Essuman.
“I think that’s a brilliant fight; that’s a great style matchup. We’re building the [Chris Eubank vs Conor Benn 2] card right now, and that’s a fight that we’re going to put forward for that card.”
With Eubank-Benn 2 set to take place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, on November 15, a clash between Catterall and Essuman would certainly make for an intriguing undercard matchup.
Essuman shone brightly back in May, outpointing Josh Taylor through 10 rounds, while Catterall looks to cement himself as a top contender at 147lbs.
