This is Jack Catterall’s time, not Jorge Linares’.
Catterall outclassed the 38-year-old former three-division titleholder en route to winning a unanimous decision in a 12-round 140-pound fight Saturday in Liverpool, England, near Catterall’s hometown of Chorley.
The official scores were 117-111, 116-112 and 116-112.
Linares (47-9, 29 KOs) showed signs of the boxing prowess of his past but couldn’t keep pace with Catterall, who outworked him and landed a higher percentage of his punches.
Catterall (28-1, 13 KOs) landed 149 of 390 punches overall, Linares 82 of 312, according to CompuBox.
The 30-year-old winner lost a disputed split decision to then titleholder Josh Taylor in February of last year, which was followed by a one-sided decision over Darragh Foley this past May.
After his victory Saturday at Echo Arena, Catterall didn’t call out one of the four 140-pound beltholders. He wants to avenge his loss to his Scottish rival.
“[Josh] Taylor, where are you? S—house,” Catterall said when he was asked who he wanted to face next.
Added Eddie Hearn, Catterall’s promoter: “There’ll be no respect against Josh Taylor. For me, I want to see Jack Catterall vs. Josh Taylor in 2024.”