- Catterall (32-2) faces Giyasov (17-0) for the vacant WBA welterweight title on the Glory In Giza undercard, May 23 in Egypt
- Catterall is a southpaw spoiler who frustrates power punchers — the same template that makes Shakur Stevenson a nightmare for everyone
- Luke's pick: Catterall by split decision — he steals the late rounds while Giyasov chases shadows
Right Then — A Horror Matchup For The Power Puncher
Right then. Jack Catterall is a brilliant boxer. Make no mistake. Two losses on his record, both to Josh Taylor and the second one ought to have been overturned in the rematch as well. Beat Prograis, beat Barboza Jr, and is now stepping up to welterweight to challenge for a vacant WBA strap against an unbeaten Uzbek who can crack.
And on paper, on paper, this looks like a tough night for Catterall. Shakhram Giyasov is 17-0 with 10 KOs, an Olympic silver medallist, came up through the Uzbek amateur system that has produced a generation of brilliant pros. He hits hard, he's got a proper jab, and he's been calling for a world title shot for years.
Look closer though. This is a horror matchup for Giyasov. If you know, you know.
Catterall Is The Ultimate Spoiler
Here's what Catterall does. He doesn't engage. He pokes, he pivots, he half-steps, he ties you up when you commit, he peels off at angles you didn't think were available. He's a southpaw, which means everything is on the wrong side for an orthodox puncher. The jab comes from the right. The straight is from the left. The right hook over the top is from a completely different plane.
Giyasov is a rhythm fighter. Watch his fights — he wants three or four rounds of measuring you up, getting his timing on the jab, and then the power starts to land. Take the rhythm away, take the timing away, take the distance away — and you've got a fighter who's standing there frustrated, throwing two-punch combinations into thin air.
The "Shakur-Lite" Comparison
Boxing fans have been calling Catterall a "Shakur-lite" for years and it's spot on. Shakur Stevenson is the gold standard for this style at the elite level — defensively brilliant, southpaw, makes power punchers look stupid. Catterall is from the same school. He's not as fast as Shakur, not as defensively perfect, but the template is identical.
Power punchers hate this style. They've spent their careers walking people down. Suddenly there's nothing to walk down to. Every time they commit, the fighter is somewhere else. Every time they load up the right hand, they're being pushed off balance. By round 6 they're tired, by round 9 they're behind, and by round 12 they're throwing wild because that's all they've got left.
Seven Weeks' Notice And Up A Weight
Don't forget — Giyasov took this on roughly seven weeks' notice. He was supposed to be fighting Rolando Romero, that fell out, this came in. Seven weeks isn't a lot of time to prepare for a southpaw spoiler when you've been training for an orthodox brawler.
And Catterall is moving up to 147 from 140. That's a meaningful jump for a fighter who's not naturally a welterweight, but it also means he's coming in with the size that should be there to absorb shots. The weight cut is easier. The strength reserves are bigger.
How Giyasov Wins
Let's not pretend Catterall is a guaranteed winner. Giyasov has a path. The path is to stop trying to outbox Catterall and start cutting off the ring. Pressure with the lead hook, push him to the ropes, beat him to the body. If Giyasov fights like a Mexican pressure fighter rather than a Uzbek amateur stylist, he can drag Catterall into the kind of fight he doesn't want to have.
The other path is the punch he won't see. Giyasov has serious power, and Catterall has been shaken before. One left hook from a southpaw counter could change the whole fight. But the entire pattern of Catterall's career is being too smart and too defensive to walk into one. Hard to bank on Giyasov landing the perfect punch when nine fighters before him couldn't.
The Prediction
Catterall by split decision. He's going to look bad doing it — there'll be rounds where he's running, rounds where the crowd boos, rounds where Giyasov looks like the busier man without landing the cleaner shots. But the scorecards will give it to Catterall on quality of work, on cleanest landed punches, on ring generalship. 115-113, 113-115, 116-112 sort of thing. Catterall walks out as a two-weight world champion, Giyasov goes back to the drawing board, and the boxing internet argues for three weeks about whether the right man won.
Class fight. Won't be pretty. Catterall's career is built on these nights.