Jack: 'We'Ve Seen The Blueprint'

Jack Catterall accepted a risky assignment last time out in the full knowledge that a blockbuster battle with Ohara Davies was firmly in the pipeline. All's well that ends well and a fight that surely cannot fail to deliver the goods is set for the Morningside Arena Leicester on October 6. In his latest Fighter Diary, Jack looks ahead to one of the major domestic showdowns of the year so far and back to a night in Belfast where his credentials were put under examination... FIGHTER DIARY BY JACK CATTERALL MY FIGHT AGAINST Ohara Davies got offered to me before my last fight against Tyrone McKenna in Belfast and I accepted it straight away. It was mentioned months ago and I said yes then, but for whatever reason the fight didn't go ahead. I have never once not accepted a fight and there was no chance of me turning this one down. People ask me if this is my biggest fight so far and I can say that he certainly talks the most nonsense out of all my previous opponents. We will have to see on the night if it is my most difficult challenge. Listen, I respect him as a fighter. He can fight and he's had a few alright wins although I don't think he has beat anyone great. He's been beat and we've seen the blueprint. He quits. He's got long arms, I don't believe he is the greatest boxer so we will just see on October 6 how I dismantle him. He is an unusual one to prepare for given his dimensions but one thing I do believe is my timing and distance is something that works for me. I've sparred Bradley Skeete and a lot of tall awkward fighters. How did I out-jab Tyrone Nurse and McKenna? It is all about timing, feet and distance. It doesn't bother me and I am quite happy to be fighting an orthodox fighter because I fought a 6ft 2" southpaw last time and trying to get sparring for that was difficult. I won't have too much trouble preparing for Davies. There might or might not be a bit more spice in the build up to this fight, but I like to think to think I don't get too involved in it all. I'll definitely not be taken for an idiot. If you have got something to say, then say it and I will respond. I'm not out there to troll any fighter and talk nonsense to build a fight. Everyone is looking forward to this one, they know it is a good fight and I don't believe there is any reason to talk trash. I am just excited to get the fight on. Hopefully this will be the final step for me towards challenging for a world title. I have defended the WBO Intercontinental so many times that I should have a ring for it by now! After this one there is nothing left for me domestically but, don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good fighters out there. I just want to be involved in big fights and push on now. This should be a good fight to set me up for the next step and I won't be running away from him - I am coming to beat him. I am sure he will be doing likewise because he needs a good win more than I do. Looking back to my last fight, I have to admit, it probably did get a bit too comfortable for me in there. A lot of people saw it - and I can see it myself - that I switched off a little bit after the mid-rounds. I did feel comfortable again in the fight and I believe that the better the opponent and the threat they bring, the better I am going to fight. I am with a new training team and I am constantly learning so, on the flip side, I got the ten rounds with Tyrone, whereas with the two previous fights with Jamie Moore I only got less than two rounds in so there wasn't much for him to look at in those fights. With getting in the ten rounds with Tyrone I could go back to the gym and know where I need to be going and what I need to be working on. So yes I probably got a bit comfortable and I know that in future fights I won't be able to do that so it gives me a good position to work from. I enjoyed the fight though and, at the same time, I probably enjoyed it a little bit too much and played into his hands with the crowd over there being amazing and Tyrone being one tough man. They got right behind him and I think that gave him a few lives in the fight. I got deducted a point early in the fight and got a bit of stick for it. I've watched it back and I caught him with a straight left that buckled him a little bit, then I hit him with the upper cut. After that his knees were bent and he was leaning back, but he wasn't down, so I thought he would be right back up and I went for the straight one-two after. Maybe it was a bit late, the referee's job is to stop the boxing and he wasn't laid on the floor, he was going down though. You have got to be careful but, at the same time, it is the referee's job to jump in and stop the action. Being careful is easier said than done, although I do think I can control myself well in fights. Sometimes though, in hostile situations where you are backed into a corner, you just fight to win and that is what you've got to do. There actually wasn't a lot riding on the fight from my perspective. It was a high risk-low reward one for me as it was my ranking and title on the line - with it being the total opposite for Tyrone. I didn't want to be sat on the shelf waiting and turning down fights because I have never done that and won't be doing it in the future. So I didn't want to be waiting until the back end of the year to fight and I got ten rounds, another win, defended the belt and came away happy.