Harlem Eubank accuses Carl Frampton of foul play in loss to Jack Catterall

MANCHESTER, England – Harlem Eubank was left incredibly frustrated after his bout with Jack Catterall on Saturday came to a premature end due to cuts.

The contest, which took place at Manchester’s AO Arena, was seen as Eubank’s opportunity to push himself onto the world scene. Catterall, long considered a world class operator and the rightful undisputed champion at 140lbs after his much disputed loss to Josh Taylor back in 2022, was a big step up from the opposition Eubank had previously faced. The fight never caught fire, with Catterall landing his left hand and Eubank struggling to cement his authority, but just as Eubank started to grow into the fight, disaster struck, when a head clash caused nasty cuts to both men – in particular Catterall. It meant the contest headed to the scorecards and Catterall was made a clear winner.

Eubank told reporters backstage that he was unhappy with the judges’ verdict, believing it should have been three apiece after six completed rounds. He was also angered by Carl Frampton’s commentary. Eubank accused Frampton, a former stablemate of Catterall, of spinning a narrative that the fight had been stopped because of Eubank’s cut, not Catterall’s.

“I was preparing to come in and dethrone Jack [Catterall] in his backyard,” Eubank told BoxingScene. “It was hostile in here tonight, and that's exactly what I was prepared for, and I had to take it out of the judges’ hands. Take it out of people that were angled towards Jack. I had to take it out of all of their hands and that is exactly what I was doing and executing a game plan to take him out late. The referee stopped him from continuing and they [Frampton and Catterall’s team] even tried to spin it and say that it was a female doctor [the doctor in Eubank’s corner]. No, fake news.”

“You know, if he's genuine, he'll run it back straight away. I said to them in there, run it back. They were like, ‘Yeah, yeah, you know, we'll run it back, we'll run it back.’ So that is what needs to be done and if they don't, then it tells you all you need to know.”