Phil D. Jay
WBN Editor
WBN Editor
US fans take to Aussie Warrior's spirit
By February 2007, Michael Katisidis had travelled to the UK
and taken apart Britain’s best lightweight at the time, Graham Earl to pick up
the interim WBO lightweight title and launch himself on the world stage.
Brendon Smith, by now his trainer and mentor for five years and friend for fifteen,
had overseen his rise to a formidable 22-0 record and top five rankings with
all four organisations. Both fighter and trainer took the opportunity to travel
to America, the fight capital of the world and face dangerous Filipino Czar
Amonsot on the undercard of Bernard Hopkins v ‘Winky’ Wright in July.
Smith recalls the fight with fond memories and rates the
fight as Katsidis’ greatest showing of guts to date as he fought through
adversity to overcome the dogged challenger in his first defence of his belt.
“I personally believe this was his best performance as he
had never had a cut before and he suffered four that night,” explained Smith.
“Michael ended up with twenty seven stitches. It was an
incredible effort to deal with that for the first time and go on to win the fight.”
It was also an instant attraction for both fighter and fans
as Katsidis fell in love with the big Las Vegas fight nights and vice versa
with the American audience who appreciated the heart and bravery shown by what
they instantly knew was a warrior of his craft.
That win would then lead Katsidis to take on the then
interim WBC title holder and two-weight world champion Joel Casamayor in what the
team saw as a winnable fight to add another belt to their collection.
A victory for the tough Aussie in March 2008 could have been a launchpad
to the upper echelons of the lightweight division and put him up with the likes
of Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao in the elite at 135lbs.
A first round knockdown by the Cuban would soon make the two
realise that they were in for a tough night and although Michael rallied in the
mid-rounds, dropping Casamayor, ‘The Great’ was down again in the tenth and
beaten for the first time in his career.
Not taking a backward step, Michael then dusted himself down
with the help of Smith and accepted an offer from former undisputed champion
Juan Diaz to fight for the vacant IBO title.
The 'Baby Bull' was also on the back of his first career loss against Nate Campbell and was by this time an established head-liner for the match-up, which was held in Texas in September 2008.
The 'Baby Bull' was also on the back of his first career loss against Nate Campbell and was by this time an established head-liner for the match-up, which was held in Texas in September 2008.
The contest was a see-saw affair which went the full twelve
rounds and saw Michael hold his own and even boss Diaz for periods of the contest. Smith looking back, admits that for parts of the bout Katsidis didn’t capitalize on the former champion’s mistakes to take a wide enough
decision, giving the judges ample reason to give Diaz the closer rounds.
The result went against Katsidis in the end on two of the judges’ cards with a third seeing
Michael the winner 115-113 to condemn Michael to his second successive defeat and Smith rues the result still to this day.
“Yes, I believe he did enough to beat Juan Diaz in the ring,
but not enough to win a decision in Houston,” said Smith.
“I think you just have to watch that fight with the volume off
and you will see Michael beat Diaz on the night to take the title.
“To me it is a stand-out moment in our time together that
fight. The way we worked with each other through the fight as Michael was
suffering a lot from his prior knockout loss to Joel Casamayor and carried that
into the fight.
“We achieved more that night then anyone ever knew and we
were very happy with the manner of the fight fight if not the outcome. Don't forget he broke his hand in the second
round which added even more to Michael’s performance.”
Katsidis would then take stock after two losses from three contests
in America and although his reputation was the highest it had ever been, the
losses were hard to cope with for both men.
Smith would then self-promote the next bout in the Philippines in January 2009 as a chance to claim his old WBO Asia Pacific belt was on the cards and Michael took out
his frustrations on Angel Ramirez over ten rounds, putting down multiple times
to get back on the winning trail.
With offers constantly flooding in from an adoring American
market, Katsidis picked an April bout against two-weight world champion Jesus
Chavez as his re-launching in the States and took him out in eight rounds to
lead him into another world title challenge………(to be concluded).
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