The obligatory “Can I have a photo?” might push it close, but Jack Catterall probably doesn’t have to think too hard about what question he has been asked most often over the past two years.

“When are you fighting Josh Taylor again?”

It is almost two years since Catterall dropped Taylor and appeared to outbox him for lengthy periods of their fight on February 22 for the undisputed super lightweight title. After 12 hard-fought rounds the judges disagreed and awarded Taylor a controversial split-decision.

Rather than providing Catterall with the perfect ending to an under-appreciated journey to world level, the judges’ decision set him on another long, frustrating road to a rematch.

Catterall and Taylor will settle their differences at Leeds’ First Direct Arena on April 27 and the next time the 30 year old goes shopping or stops at a petrol station, he can finally give a different answer to that tired old question.

“I don’t go out much,” Catterall said with a laugh before taking to the top table for the Manchester leg of the press tour to announce the rematch. “I’m fortunate that all I do is go to the gym and spend time with my family and they all know what the crack is. 

“If I do go out, yeah, I do get asked. Well, it’s a fight I always believed would happen. It’s took two years but it’s here now and I can focus on it.”

From the moment they first walk into a gym, every fighter dreams of becoming the best in the world. In his own mind and the eyes of most observers, Catterall achieved the goal he had spent his entire life working towards but all he received for his efforts were pats on the back and well wishes. 

Sympathy is all well and good but it can’t be put on display on a mantel piece and it doesn’t result in increased purses.

The outrage about the decision eventually died down and fans went back to their daily lives while Catterall did the only thing he knows and continued to turn up at the gym day in, day out, and to wait for the chance to put things right. 

“In the immediate aftermath it was frustrating,” he said. “I couldn’t change anything though apart from getting back in the gym and striving to be better. It was frustrating. I’ve moved on though. I’ve had two good wins which have put me in a better place. It’s frustrating not having the world titles and kind of rebuilding but that’s what I got dealt. At the same time – and he must get it too – it’s not just me but my coaches; my team; my manager. We’re always getting asked about this fight. People are calling for it. Now it’s more of a big relief that it's done.”

After years of talking and thinking about a fight that may not ever have happened, things have suddenly got very real.

There have been times when the rematch appeared to be on the verge of being agreed and times when the Scot was little more than a distant spec on the horizon. Their date is now only weeks away and instead of talking about Taylor, Catterall can finally get ready to fight him and having already shared 12 hard rounds with him, he doesn’t believe that there is anything the 33 year old can do to prevent the inevitable.

“Honestly, hand on heart I can’t see anything that he does better,” Catterall said. “I do believe that he’s touched the ceiling and he’s coming back down now. I’ll prepare for the best version of him. The version that picked up undisputed, but – honestly – I can’t see anything that he does better than me.”