Another week, another delay.
BoxingScene.com has confirmed that the Jack Catterall-Richardson Hitchins IBF purse bid has been postponed another week to January 18. The session was scheduled for Thursday, already a nine-day extension from the original Jan. 2 date for their ordered junior welterweight title eliminator. .
It was postponed for a second time at the request of Matchroom Boxing, the registered promoter of both boxers.
Extensions are usually granted when both parties believe that the additional time can be used to reach an agreement.
That doesn’t seem to be the case here. If anything, it’s become more apparent that the two are destined for separate opportunities. Brooklyn’s Hitchins (17-0, 7KOs) is set to face Catterall or anyone else on an already booked DAZN date in March.
England’s Catterall (28-1, 13KOs), however, has repeatedly called for a rematch against Scotland’s Josh Taylor (19-1, 13KOs), the former undisputed junior welterweight champion. Matchroom has reportedly made three separate offers for the fight, which appears to be a higher priority than reaching a deal with Hitchins.
Taylor defeated Catterall in a questionable split decision in their February 2022 meeting with all four major titles on the line.
It was the last time Taylor successfully defended any of his junior welterweight titles. He was subsequently forced to relinquish the WBA, WBC and IBF belts to proceed with a planned rematch against Catterall. The two were forced to postpone those plans several times and cancel them entirely, as Taylor fought Teófimo López (19-1, 13KOs), who soundly outclassed the Scottish southpaw last June to win the linear and WBO championship of 140 lbs.
Catterall eventually moved on, albeit at the expense of a 15-month absence from the ring. Since then, the 30-year-old southpaw has won twice, including a twelve-round decision over former three-division champion Jorge Linares on October 21 in Liverpool.
Hitchins also won twice in his 2023 campaign. The 2016 Haitian Olympian, who represents his parents’ roots, handily bested John Bauza in their Feb. 4 battle between undefeated prospects in New York City. Hitchins outlasted former title challenger Jose Zepeda over twelve rounds in his DAZN main event on September 24 in Orlando, Florida.
If the fight advances, the winner of the fight will become the mandatory challenger to Puerto Rican Subriel Matías (19-1, 19KOs), who in the meantime will have a voluntary defense of the title.
Under IBF Rule 9C, Catterall and Hitchins must now respect the title knockout order to avoid disciplinary measures imposed by the sanctioning body. Any fighter who abandons the bidding process or does not respect the result will receive a demotion in the rankings plus a six-month probationary period in which he will not be able to participate in an IBF-sanctioned fight.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox
