Barboza-Catterall Thoughts
On February 15th a world title elimination bout took place in the 140lb. Jr. Welterweight division to determine a number one contender in the World Boxing Organization ( WBO ) Jr. Welterweight world championship currently held by Teofimo Lopez. The bout, which took place in Manchester, England, pitted Arnold Barboza and Jack Catterall the WBO’s number one and two contenders respectively. What was refreshing about this particular encounter beyond it being one between the legitimate top two contenders meeting to determine who will be next to challenge for a world title, but it was simply a bout between two of the top fighters in the Jr. Welterweight division, which did not see any grandstanding or pre-fight hype tactics that all too often crosses the line from simply trying to draw interest in a fight to legitimately personal attacks. This was simply two of the best fighters meeting to test their skills against each other. What resulted was a tactical battle where both fighters seemed to...