Jack Catterall believes that his intelligence will be the deciding factor when he fights Arnold Barboza Jnr at Manchester’s Co-Op Live Arena on Saturday night.

Either Catterall, 30-1 (13 KOs), or Barboza Jnr, 31-0 (11 KOs), will leave Manchester with the interim version of the WBO junior welterweight title held by Ring Magazine champion, Teofimo Lopez. Lopez will then have 180 days to defend his belt against the winner.

The event will be broadcast worldwide by DAZN.

Catterall, 31, respects Barboza Jnr but as the fight has drawn closer and the two fighters have spent more time together, tensions have inevitably risen and he has described the Californian as “average, a B class fighter.”

Barboza Jnr is unbeaten in 31 professional fights and rated at number nine by Ring Magazine. He earned his position as the WBO’s leading contender by outboxing former unified champion, Jose Carlos Ramirez, last November.

Catterall - who is ranked at number two by Ring Magazine - was unbeaten in 26 fights by the time he got his first world title shot, a controversial split decision defeat to then undisputed junior welterweight champion, Josh Taylor in February 2022.

He knows exactly what it takes to string together a long undefeated run and navigate a path through the world rankings. Average fighters don’t do that.

“You know what, he's a solid fighter. I think he does everything well. He boxes smart, he's had some great victories,” he told The Ring at a media day.

“I think last time out, a lot of credit to him. He beat Ramirez and I've said it, I don't think Ramirez was the fighter he was even a year ago. He was swinging wild and his resistance looked gone but that's to take no credit away from Barboza who went in there, stuck to a game plan, boxed smart and beat him convincingly. So a fighter that I'd say is the full package, but I don't think he does anything better than me.”

Whereas Barboza Jnr was able to control the tempo and distance of his fight with Ramirez, Belfast’s Sean McComb presented him with a with a constantly moving target when they met in a ten round fight in Brooklyn last April.

The 33 year-old struggled badly to cut the sharp, clever angles McComb used and was extremely luck to escape with a controversial split decision win.

Catterall is much more subtle and efficient with his movement than McComb but might just be the cleverest fighter in the 140lb division.

He was never going to change the habit of a lifetime and fight recklessly on the most important night of his career, but watching Barboza Jnr compete against Ramirez and McComb has solidified his belief that his smart, unhurried southpaw style and clever punch picking will carry him to within touching distance of that elusive world title.

“I thought Ramirez was going to win,” he said.

“I thought I'd be fighting Ramirez next and you look at Ramirez and think, ‘You know what? Brilliant. Comes forward, not too worried about his defence, will swing and have a go, brilliant for my style of fighting.’ Brilliant for Barboza, he made him look good.

“You look at the Sean McComb fight. A tall, rangy southpaw. I’ve sparred Sean, he's causing problems for anybody but he struggled against that style.

“People that have come to see me fight know that I don't go out there swinging wild, where I'm going to get clipped.

“I'm an intelligent boxer. I understand the position I'm in now. I need to go out there and put my stamp on it. I need to be putting on a great display - which I anticipate to do - but I'm going to cause him a lot of problems.”