Josh Taylor has at least one more fight to worry about, should he even choose to retain his current championship status.
An overdue mandatory title fight ordered by the WBA calls for Scotland’s Taylor, the reigning undisputed lineal/WBA/WBC/IBF/WBO junior welterweight champion—to next face number-one contender Alberto Puello. The fight was formally ordered March 8, with the two sides given a 30-day negotiation period to reach a deal to avoid a purse bid hearing.
The ruling is significant in that it limits Taylor’s options in the event he decides to stick around at junior welterweight after having recently vowed to be done with the division.
“Taylor won his championship on October 26, 2019 and his mandatory defense period as super champion was 18 months, so he had to fight the mandatory before April 25, 2021,” Cesar Chavez, chairman of the WBA Championship Committee stated in a letter to both parties and their respective camps, a copy of which was obtained by BoxingScene.com. “Rule C.13 Fighting Limitations, states that the champion cannot defend against an opponent other than the mandatory challenger within 60 days after the expiration of his mandatory defense period.”
Taylor is represented by Top Rank and MTK Global, while Dominican Republic’s Puello is one of several rising talents under the Shuan Boxing banner headed by Belgica Pena.
Puello (20-0, 10KOs) was one of several fighters affected by the WBA’s decision—under heavy political pressure—to remove its interim titles from existence last August. The 27-year-old southpaw previously held the WBA interim junior welterweight title since July 2019, having made two defenses while waiting out major fights with either Taylor or for the WBA ‘World’ title previously held by Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Mario Barrios before him.
The revamped policy rolled out by the WBA called for a number of title consolidation bouts, along with stripped interim titlists moving into the mandatory challenger slot in divisions where one was available. Puello fell into the latter, one month after having defended his title in a twelve-round shutout of Jesus Antonio Rubio last July. His win came less than a month after Davis (26-0, 24KOs) claimed the WBA ‘World’ strap following an eleventh-round stoppage of Barrios last June in Atlanta.
Davis was among a select few elite fighters who managed to circumvent the WBA policy, as he was permitted to simultaneously hold the WBA ‘World’ versions of the lightweight and junior welterweight titles heading into his next fight. The Baltimore-bred knockout artist remained at lightweight where he was due to face Rolando Romero who—like Puello—was transitioned from interim titlist to mandatory challenger.
Romero was forced to withdraw from their December 5 fight due to an active police investigation from which he was since fully cleared. Puello aggressively campaigned to fill the void and again pursued the fight after Davis settled on Isaac Cruz whom he outpointed over twelve-rounds.
Davis has since vacated his title, leaving Puello with a clear shot at the main title—though not necessarily versus Taylor.
Taylor (19-0, 13KOs) claimed the WBA belt in a twelve-round decision win over Prograis in the World Boxing Super Series junior welterweight tournament final. The win saw Taylor add the belt while retaining the IBF title, having fought just three times since then—an IBF mandatory title defense which he won by 1st round knockout in September 2020; followed by his undisputed championship win over then-unbeaten WBC/WBO titlist Jose Ramirez last May and a questionable twelve-round, split decision win over Jack Catterall this past February 26 in Glasgow, Scotland.
The fight with Catterall was Taylor’s first in Scotland since his May 2019 IBF title win over Ivan Baranchyk. The homecoming was well celebrated heading into the fight but has since served as the subject of an ongoing investigation both within and outside the sport.
England’s Catterall (26-1, 13KOs) secured the fight as the WBO mandatory challenger in waiting for Ramirez, who he agreed to first face Taylor with the promise of next facing the winner. Taylor held up his end of the bargain, agreeing to next face Catterall though with the fight delayed by two months due to an injury during training camp.
The rescheduled championship fight saw Taylor suffer an eighth-round knockdown in his February 26 title defense versus Catterall, along with both fighters being issued point deductions in their Sky Sports/ESPN+ aired championship fight from Glasgow, Scotland. The split decision in favor of Taylor caused mass outrage throughout the United Kingdom.
The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) is currently interviewing the officials assigned to the fight—including Ian John-Lewis, whose 114-111 scorecard in favor of Taylor has drawn the most public scorn. Judge Victor Loughlin’s scorecard of 113-112 Taylor was also criticized, though he was in agreement with at least one other judge in all 12 rounds scored.
The matter is also being investigated by UK police after capturing the attention of Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons.
Meanwhile, Taylor still has to resume his career. The unbeaten Scotsman has repeatedly suggested that the fight with Catterall was likely his last at junior welterweight. He has offered to meet the British southpaw in a rematch, though on the condition it take place above the 140-pound limit as a transition into his eventual welterweight campaign.
Such a move would likely force Taylor to vacate at least two titles. Also in waiting is Jose ‘Chon’ Zepeda, the current WBC mandatory challenger who is taking a stay busy fight this month ahead of his next challenge which he expects to be for the vacant title should Taylor accept any other fight.
Puello likely faces a similar predicament. Such a scenario would leave the unbeaten Dominican southpaw to enter talks with Venezuela’s Ismael Barroso (28-3-2, 21KOs), a former WBA interim lightweight titlist who is currently number two in the WBA junior welterweight rankings. Barroso has not fought since last January, though has won his last three starts and is keen on challenging for the title.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox