During the post-fight press conference following Jack Catterall’s win over Josh Taylor, Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn didn’t mince words when lobbying for a fight against Teofimo Lopez on Catterall’s behalf.
Hearn would call out Lopez for having a disgraceful upcoming title defense against Steve Claggett, saying Catterall would be a much more suitable opponent.
“It’s a terrible fight (Lopez vs Claggett),” Hearn said. “But look, Steve Claggett’s a real tough guy. We got offered Steve Claggett for Subriel Matias and I said ‘he’s not good enough.’ I can’t tell you that Subriel Matias is this unbelievable talent and put him in with Steve Claggett — what’s he got, eight, nine losses, something like that on his record?
“I don’t mean to be disrespectful but that’s a terrible fight for ESPN. Like Jack Catterall against Teofimo Lopez is a proper, proper fight but let him do his thing. We’d love that fight after, I’ve mention Riyadh or whatever, we can bring big fights to Manchester, he does big crowds as well.”
Hearn continued by acknowledging that a potential rubber match against Josh Taylor is naturally an option for Catterall going forward, but their preference is to chase a world title opportunity.