By Arthur Ferridge
Jack Catterall beat Harlem Eubank on a technical decision after an accidental clash of heads saw their all-British welterweight bout end early.
The fight was stopped at the start of the seventh round after both fighters clashed heads in the sixth round. Both sustained cuts but Catterall’s cut above the right eye was visibly worse.
The judges favoured Catterall 69-66, 69-66 and 69-65 as Eubank lost his unbeaten 21-fight record.
Both men blamed each other for the head clash, though neither of them thought it was intentional.
Before the bout Eubank faced an awkward encounter with bitter family enemy Conor Benn, who was send to his dressing room to oversee his hands being wrapped.
鈥淭he fight was going how I expected it to go, we were breaking him down,鈥 said Catterall after the fight.
鈥淚t鈥檚 frustrating not being able to get the rounds and go through them gears like I anticipated, but it鈥檚 a head clash. “Not the way I wanted to win, but happy to be back in the win column.鈥
Eubank called for a rematch but Catterall is intent on moving on to world title opportunities.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a world-class operator, but I was warming into the fight,鈥 said Eubank.
鈥淚 was landing clean, flush right hands, and he came in with his head and caused the cut.
鈥淚 was ready to go in round seven, we were building into the fight beautifully, executing the game plan. I felt like I was world-class in there, and I didn鈥檛 get the result tonight.
鈥淭here has to be a rematch. Fair play to Jack, he didn鈥檛 call the fight off. But I was coming into the fight beautifully, and we need to run it back.鈥
Asked whether Catterall will accept Eubank’s call for a rematch, his promoter Eddie Hearn said: “For us, he wants to move on and try and get himself in a position to challenge for a world title.
鈥淵ou have got Paddy Donovan vs Lewis Croker coming up. That looks like it could be for the IBF world title with Boots moving up, and we want to get Jack in that position.
鈥淚 would have liked to see the fight go on, but that is not the way it works. It was a big head clash, two horrendous cuts, it goes to the scorecards, and it was the right decision.
鈥淔or us, we move on to world titles, but Harlem rematch or no rematch, he has big fights ahead of him.鈥