JACK CATTERALL and Josh Taylor are two of the best unbeaten fighters Britain has to offer in 2019 and there’s every chance they could end up colliding in the future.

Catterall is undefeated in 23 pro fights and is the mandatory challenger for WBO super-lightweight champion Maurice Hooker. He is pencilled in for a keep-busy fight on April 27 as he waits for details of his first world title shot to be confirmed.

Taylor, meanwhile, has avoided defeat in 14 pro fights and is gearing up for a World Boxing Super Series semi-final against Ivan Baranchyk in Glasgow on May 18. If Taylor wins that, he will take the Russian’s IBF super-lightweight title and advance to the final of the WBSS, where he will face either Regis Prograis or Kiryl Relikh, the current WBA titleholder.

Play his cards right, and Catterall, should he defeat Hooker and claim the WBO title, could end up meeting his fellow Brit with three of the division’s four major belts on the line.

“I have definitely got the beating of him (Taylor) and I think I have got the beating of all the guys if I prepare right,” said Catterall, 23-0 (12).

“The World Boxing Super Series is going on in the background and the favourites to win it in my book are either Josh Taylor or Regis Prograis.

“I do pick Josh over Prograis slightly, although I have not seen too much of the American.

“My ideal scenario would be for me to win my world title and Josh to win the WBSS. Then we could get together for a unification fight.

“I’ve thought about fighting Josh because I’ve got to be looking at all the guys in the top ten in my division. Everyone is with different promoters, but these fights are always possible. For me it is an obvious fight for the future.”

For now, both Taylor and Catterall will focus on the immediate tasks facing them, neither of which are straightforward. In time, though, they will understand the need for a British rival and, providing they both stay unbeaten, will meet when the time is right.

Jack Catterall

Lucas Browne won’t be knocking out Dave Allen when the heavyweights clash on Saturday night (April 20) at London’s O2 Arena.

That’s the prediction, and hope, of Allen, the self-styled ‘White Rhino’, who insists he respects his Australian opponent’s punching power but won’t be falling victim to it.

“The last thing I worry about when I box is the power,” said Allen. “That’s not because I can take a good shot, even though I can.

“People say ‘you haven’t got a good defence’. I’ve got a great defence. I see every shot coming. Even the ones I take clean in the face, I know they’re coming. You’re not going to knock me out.

“Lucas Browne, if he’s planning on beating me with power, might as well stay in Australia, because there’s zero chance of me getting knocked out.”

For all his flaws, Browne, a former WBA ‘champion’, has amassed 24 stoppages from 28 career wins and can clearly punch. It’s far from advisable, therefore, for anyone to stand in front of him and test their chin, nor assume they can’t be hurt by the shots he throws.

That said, Allen has proven his durability in a 22-bout career and has been stopped only twice (against world title challenger Luis Ortiz and 2016 Olympic champion Tony Yoka). He goes into Saturday’s fight confident he is about to secure the biggest scalp of his pro career so far.

“Even though there’s no animosity in the build-up, I want to punch him all over The O2,” said the 27-year-old. “I’ve trained harder than ever for this fight and you’ll all see the difference come fight night. I’m going to knock him out.

“A win here puts me on the big stage – not the highest level, but within touching distance of a fight that would then put me there.”

Dave Allen