JACK Catterall earned the ring moniker ‘El Gato’ when he first turned professional.

Being dubbed ‘The Cat’ accurately reflected his sharp reflexes, his pawing jabs to disguise stinging counters and his tendency to first play with, then pounce on his opponents.

However, somewhere along the way to the top of boxing’s super-lightweight division, Catterall tamed his ferocious inner feline.

He went from alley cat to house cat and now it’s threatening his livelihood.

On Saturday, back in Manchester, he’s got to tear opponent Harlem Eubank apart.

There can be no excuses against a foe from outside of boxing’s upper echelons, he must make a statement.

EL GATO, TAMED?

I was sat ringside the night Catterall became Central Area champion in 2014.

He needed just four minutes to negate and obliterate former top amateur prospect Nathan Brough, putting him to sleep with a peach of a counter left hook.

Just 12 weeks later, I was in Liverpool, when he dropped and stopped London 2012 Team GB Olympic captain Tom Stalker in eight.

And four months after that he was back in the same ring dismantling Argentinean champ Cesar Inalef inside five rounds to secure an international ranking.

In fact, British boxing’s self-proclaimed ‘Mr Boring’, was once one of the most destructive southpaws you could hope to see.

The Chorley native stopped 13 of his first 22, the majority when he stepped up to 10 and 12 rounders against willing opposition.

But he’s not forced a stoppage victory in over six years. So, what’s changed?

LEVELS

Of course, amassing an unbeaten record spanning 24 fights ensures the quality of opposition will increase, along with the stakes.

Catterall, 32, has defeated three former world champions in his last eight fights, along with a handful of fellow leading contenders.

But his approach has slowed. His patience has been extended and, last time out, his lack of activity bit him where it hurts, by losing a decision in a final eliminator for a world title shot.

In the five months since, Catterall has gone back to where it all started. He travelled to America, alone, and sparred anybody willing to open their doors.

He insists its brought the old alley cat back out in him.

Eubank, nephew of the great Chris Eubank, has built up a decent following courtesy of a handful of carefully picked main event slots on Channel 5.

But he’s never fought anywhere close to the levels Catterall (30-2) has operated at previously.

CHIP OFF THE BLOCK

That’s not to say the 31-year-old from Brighton can’t make the jump, and the fact Catterall is stepping up to welterweight for the first time is definitely to the visitor’s benefit.

Eubank is unbeaten in 21 fights and, whilst he’s only stopped nine, he’s well versed at putting people over. He has power.

But there is nobody on his resume with the credentials of Catterall, and Harlem will find his trademark left hook lacking potency against a fighter as intelligent as this.

However, The Cat simply must come to fight.

Catterall can ill afford to pick, weave and negate his way to a decision this time. He has to make a statement of intent in his new weight class.

Cus D’Amato, the brains behind the careers of Floyd Patterson and later Mike Tyson, said it best:

“Boxing is entertainment, so to be successful a fighter must not only win but he must win in an exciting manner. He must throw punches with bad intentions.”

Over to you, El Gato.

TIP: Catterall by TKO (KO, TKO or DQ 9/2)

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