According to Mike Coppinger, Josh Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs), the WBO light welterweight champion, and Teofimo Lopez (18-1, 13 KOs), the No. 1 contender, are reportedly close to agreeing to a fight on May 27 or June 3 of 2023 at Edinburgh, Scotland’s 20,000-seat Easter Road.
Rematch between Taylor and Jack Catterall was originally scheduled on March 4, but it was postponed when Taylor tore a plantar fascia in January 2023. In March or April, according to the 32-year-old champion, he will be able to start training again.
In February 2022 in Scotland, Taylor defeated Catterall to retain his unchallenged championship by a split decision, although the judgment was clouded by controversies. Catterall will likely now have to wait for his chance to correct the record.
Years of insult trading have put Taylor and Lopez on a collision course. Before Lopez's contentious split-decision victory over Sandor Martin in December 2022, Taylor made a recent threat to knock him out.
“I’d tear him up, from the body to the head, he's not going to know which one I'm going to hurt him with,” Lopez told Sky Sports in December 2022. “A lot of people would like to see me take on Josh Taylor, and I've been calling him out.”
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