Michael Katsidis

Michael Katsidis
Statistics
Real name	Michael Alan Katsidis
Nickname(s)	The Great Rocky[1][2]
Rated at	Lightweight Light Welterweight
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Nationality	Australian
Born	(1980-08-15) 15 August 1980 (age 31) Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	34
Wins	28
Wins by KO	23
Losses	6
Draws	0
No contests	0

Michael Alan Katsidis (Greek: Mιχάλης Κατσίδης) (born 15 August 1980) is an Australian professional boxer of Greek descent.^[1] He is a former two-time Interim WBO Lightweight titleholder whose crowd-pleasing, all-action fighting style has often drawn comparisons with the late Arturo Gatti.^[3][4][5]

Amateur career

In an amateur career which began at the age of eleven, Katsidis compiled a record of 75–6.^[6] During this time, he represented the Australian Olympic team in the lightweight division at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. He also became a scholarship holder at the Australian Institute of Sport.^[7]

2000 Olympic results

• First round: defeated Agnaldo Nunes (Brazil) – 15:6
• Second round: lost to Nurzhan Karimzhanov (Kazakhstan) – 7:9

Professional career

2001–2007

Katsidis made his professional debut on 1 December 2001 by knocking out Danny Wilson in the third round for the Queensland State Lightweight title. In his second fight on 9 March 2002, he won a twelve-round unanimous decision over James Swan for the Australian Lightweight title. He would go on to score another nineteen wins (nearly all by knockout), whilst amassing a further three lower-level titles: the Australian Light Welterweight, WBO Asia Pacific Lightweight and IBF Pan Pacific Lightweight Championships, respectively.

Battle with Earl

At the Wembley Arena in London, England, a title bout for the newly created and vacant Interim WBO Lightweight title was made between Katsidis and Graham Earl on 17 February 2007. In an action-filled and fast-paced match, Katsidis and Earl went toe-to-toe and traded many heavy blows with hardly any clinching, during which Earl was knocked down twice in the opening round and again in the second. However, soon after getting back to his feet following the third knockdown and having the towel being thrown in seconds later (only to be thrown back out again by referee Mickey Vann), Earl managed to floor Katsidis momentarily with a heavy right hand at close quarters, rendering the latter visibly stunned and unsteady on his feet. Earl's comeback would ultimately be short-lived, as Katsidis recovered swiftly and finished the round strongly. At the very end of round three, a low blow cost Katsidis a point, but in the following rounds he went on to deliver a barrage of largely unanswered punches to Earl until the decision was made by Vann to stop the fight after the fifth round.^[8]

Pay-per-view debut

On 26 May 2007, Katsidis was scheduled to fight then WBO Super Featherweight Champion Joan Guzmán, but the latter withdrew from the fight having sustained a hand injury.^[9] Some time afterwards, a defence of Katsidis' interim title was made against Czar Amonsot on 21 July 2007, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. This was Katsidis' first appearance in the United States and on HBO, as part of the pay-per-view undercard to Bernard Hopkins vs. Ronald "Winky" Wright.

Following the intense and hard-hitting fight, which ended in a twelve-round unanimous decision in favour of Katsidis (with Amonsot suffering a knockdown in rounds two and ten), the latter was found to have a subdural hematoma, putting his career in serious doubt at the time.^[10] Katsidis was also seriously cut around both eyes, which had begun to bleed heavily from the third round onwards. Both men were subsequently hospitalised at the local Valley Hospital Medical Center, with Amonsot requiring an overnight stay and Katsidis multiple stitches.^[11]

2008

First defeat

A bout with then Undisputed Lightweight Champion Juan Díaz was to take place after the fight with Amonsot, but problems with HBO and Díaz's promoter Don King prevented this fight from occurring.^[12] On 22 March 2008 at the Morongo Casino in Cabazon, California, Katsidis fought reigning WBC and The Ring Magazine Lightweight and former WBA Super Featherweight Champion Joel Casamayor in defence of his title, which saw him caught early on with two sharp left hands from the Cuban southpaw, dropping him twice in the first round.

As the fight continued, Katsidis' heavy punches and constant pressure began to find their way through Casamayor's defence; at one point sending him tumbling through the ring ropes towards the end of round six, after successive left and right hands. In the ninth round, Casamayor was deducted a point due to a low blow. All of this enabled Katsidis to gradually build up a lead on two of the judges' scorecards, until a well-placed counter left hand from Casamayor caught him on the chin and floored him in the tenth round. Barely able to stand up, Katsidis was able to carry on, but shortly afterwards a further flurry of unanswered shots from Casamayor forced referee Jon Schorle to stop the fight. This handed Katsidis his first defeat and cost him the Interim WBO Lightweight title. Again, cuts and bruises were noticeable around his eyes during the fight.^[13]

Second defeat

Following the defeat, a rescheduled fight with Juan Díaz was set for 6 September 2008 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas for the vacant IBO Lightweight Championship. During the event billed as No Retreat, No Surrender, Katsidis underperformed over the course of twelve rounds, enabling a determined Díaz (who had also suffered a career first loss in his previous fight against Nate Campbell) to counterpunch and time his attacks with regularity. With his face bloodied and bruised once again, Katsidis suffered his second consecutive defeat, with Díaz winning a split decision. The judges scored the fight 116–112 and 115–113 in Díaz's favour, with a somewhat controversial 115–113 for Katsidis.^[14]

2009

Comeback trail

An opportunity for Katsidis to reclaim the vacant WBO Asia Pacific Lightweight title was scheduled for 31 January 2009 at the Cebu Coliseum in Cebu City, Philippines, with Angel Hugo Ramirez as his opponent. The ten-round contest was won convincingly by Katsidis, despite appearing to be somewhat gunshy at times, coupled with Ramirez's unwillingness to engage. Nonetheless, Ramirez was knocked down four times (once in the second round and three times in the fourth). A point, however, was taken away from Katsidis for hitting Ramirez whilst he was floored from a slip later in the second round. At the end of the fight, the judges scored 96–89, 96–89 and 98–87 all in favour of Katsidis.^[15]

On 10 April 2009, Katsidis was said to be scheduled for a return to California's Morongo Casino to fight former two-time IBF Lightweight Champion Julio Díaz,^[16] but this match-up was soon changed; instead, Katsidis faced former WBC Super Featherweight and IBF Lightweight Champion Jesús Chávez on 4 April 2009 at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. This was part of the Lightweight Lightning event, a lightweight eliminator tournament organised by Golden Boy Promotions.^[17] After an initially tentative start on the part of Katsidis, he was soon able to pull ahead on the scorecards due to his characteristic onslaught of attack, which ultimately forced Chávez (who had sustained a bad cut on his forehead towards the end of round four) to quit in his corner before the start of the eighth round.^[18]

Pay-per-view return

Katsidis' next opponent was Vicente Escobedo, whom he fought on 19 September 2009 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, as part of the undercard to the Number One/Numero Uno event featuring Floyd Mayweather, Jr. against the reigning WBA, WBO and The Ring Magazine Lightweight Champion Juan Manuel Márquez. The bout was for the Interim WBO Lightweight title (which had since been vacated by Joel Casamayor, some time following his victorious bout with Katsidis), with the winner receiving a guaranteed opportunity to face the World WBO Lightweight Champion.^[19]

In a fight similar to the one with Amonsot two years prior, Katsidis and Escobedo exchanged hard punches for the full twelve-round distance, with the former surging forward aggressively and putting constant pressure on the retreating and accurately counterpunching American. In what has seemingly become routine for Katsidis, cuts opened up around his face early on, together with a visibly swollen jaw in the closing rounds. At the end of the contest, the judges scored 118–110 and 115–113 for Katsidis, with one judge scoring 116–112 for Escobedo; the latter score regarded by some observers as questionable.^[20]

2010

Return to London

Having reclaimed the interim title he lost a year-and-a-half prior, Katsidis was made to wait several months to see if a mandatory title bout with the aforementioned Márquez would materialise. This was dependent on whether the latter was willing return to the lightweight division to defend his WBO Championship, or if he would voluntarily reliquish it to Katsidis.^[21][22] However, by January 2010, Márquez had expressed no desire to defend against him.

A date on 27 March 2010 against then-reigning IBF Super Featherweight Champion Robert Guerrero was at one point confirmed for a Golden Boy Promotions event, but the latter withdrew from the fight in early February due to family matters.^[23] One day prior to Guerrero's withdrawal, Katsidis had turned his attention towards his old nemesis Juan Díaz, with both expressing an interest in a potential rematch (Díaz having himself suffered his third career loss at the hands of light welterweight Paulie Malignaggi in December 2009.^[24][25]

On 2 March 2010, a fight between Katsidis and then-undefeated lightweight challenger Kevin Mitchell was officially confirmed by promoter Frank Warren.^[26] It was contested on 15 May 2010 at Boleyn Ground stadium in east London, England, with the Interim WBO Lightweight Championship on the line.^[27][28]

At the opening bell, Mitchell looked to establish his jab and keep Katsidis at bay. In the first two evenly split rounds, the occasional flurry of hooks from a highly aggressive Katsidis was enough to make Mitchell fight consistently on the back foot in an attempt to keep out of range. However, in the closing seconds of both rounds, Katsidis was able to launch a charging attack and finish strongly at the bell. In the third round, Katsidis continued to charge at Mitchell and was soon able to land a combination of hooks which made the latter stumble backwards on unsteady legs. From thereon, Mitchell was unable to fully regain his composure and, less than two minutes later, he was buckled by a hard left hook and a further succession of unanswered punches, at which point referee Dave Parris stopped the fight.^[29]

The waiting game

Immediately after the Mitchell bout, the WBO mandated that Juan Manuel Márquez must face Katsidis for the 'full' version of the World Lightweight title, or risk being stripped.^[30] This was reiterated some months later, following Márquez's victory over Juan Díaz in a rematch of their 2009 fight.^[31] Katsidis was in attendance for the aforementioned event in order to scout out the winner and primarily to assert his claim to be next in line against Márquez.^[32] Meanwhile, the names of other potential opponents for Katsidis included undefeated EBU and British Lightweight Champion John Murray,^[33] as well as WBA Light Welterweight Champion Amir Khan^[34] (who himself was, at one point, potentially in line to face Márquez in December).^[35][36]

World title challenge

On 25 August, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, Richard Schaefer, announced that Márquez had decided to stay at lightweight and defend his WBA, WBO and The Ring titles against Katsidis on 27 November, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.^[37][38] Golden Boy Promotions founder Oscar De La Hoya labelled the event as Warriors.^[39] It was Katsidis' first time headlining an HBO World Championship Boxing broadcast (having twice previously headlined Boxing After Dark, against Casamayor and Díaz, respectively). In the action-packed fight which won HBO's Fight of the Year award,^[40] Márquez suffered a knockdown in round three from a hard Katsidis left hook. He nonetheless recovered swiftly, built up a lead on all judges' scorecards and went on to stop Katsidis in the ninth round after a succession of cleanly landed uppercuts.^[41]

2011

Further losses

Katsidis' next fight took place on 9 April 2011 against Robert Guerrero, in a re-scheduling of their cancelled fight from March 2010. It formed part of the undercard to Action Heroes, a Golden Boy-promoted HBO pay-per-view event featuring Érik Morales vs. Marcos René Maidana.^[42] The WBA and, once again, Interim WBO titles were at stake.^[43] Despite an animated taunt of "What are you looking at?!" from Katsidis to Guerrero during the pre-fight staredown, the former would suffer a fourth career defeat in his most one-sided loss to date. Guerrero was able to maintain a safe distance by consistently landing accurate punches with his jab and straight left hand, to which Katsidis had virtually no answer at any stage in the fight.

In the second round, Katsidis seemingly scored a knockdown due to a cuffing left hook, but this was not counted by referee Russell Mora. In the fourth, both fighters exchanged punches wildly, with Guerrero maintaining the upper hand. A hard straight left from Guerrero wobbled Katsidis in round five and had him hurt for the remainder of the round. As the fight wore on, Katsidis would lose two points in the eighth round because of repeated low blows; Guerrero also lost a point for the same reason in the ninth. After the full twelve-round distance was completed, the judges were unanimous in scoring 118–107, 118–106 and 117–108 in favour of Guerrero.^[44]

On 2 June 2011, a "verbal agreement" was said to have been made between Katsidis' team and that of Graham Earl, to stage a rematch of their 2007 fight.^[45] However, talks between both camps later broke down due to the British Boxing Board of Control refusing to grant Earl a licence to fight. Katsidis then moved up in weight to light welterweight for a fight against Michael Lozada on 13 August 2011 at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Queensland. It was his first fight in Australia since 2006,^[46] as well as his first at light welterweight since that time. An outmatched Lozada was defeated via knockout in the third round.^[47]

Katsidis (right) with former trainer and manager Brendon Smith (centre) and Graham Earl (left), prior to fighting Ricky Burns at Wembley Arena in 2011.

In a move back down to lightweight, Katsidis next fought former WBO Super Featherweight Champion Ricky Burns, who vacated his title in order to move up in weight. The event took place on 5 November 2011 at the Wembley Arena in London, England^[48] (although Glasgow, Scotland was originally planned),^[49][50] with the Interim WBO Lightweight title on the line.^[51] Burns defeated Katsidis by way of unanimous decision with judges' scores of 117–112, 117–111 and 117–111.^[52]

Later that month, it was announced that Katsidis and career-long trainer Brendon Smith had amicably parted ways after nearly twenty years.^[53] In an in-depth interview in early December, he explained that he was on the lookout for a new manager, promoter and trainer, as well as a forthcoming fight.^[54]

2012

His next fight took place on 13 April 2012 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, against Albert Mensah.^[55] For this occasion, Katsidis had hired a new trainer in fellow Australian and former heavyweight contender Justin Fortune.^[56] However, despite throwing over a thousand punches in a typically action-packed outing, Katsidis was outboxed by Mensah, who landed fewer but more damaging punches (particularly the uppercut, to which Katsidis has always been vulnerable). In the ninth round, Katsidis was hurt several times and looked to be on shaky legs as he stumbled around the ring. At the end of the ten-round fight, the judges scored a majority decision for Mensah with scores of 98–92, 96–94 and 95–95.^[57][58]

Personal life

In February 2009, Katsidis married Japanese native Kumiko Hosako during a ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand. They had met in Los Angeles several years prior, but now reside in Las Vegas.^[59][60] On 8 December 2009, Katsidis became a father for the first time, to newborn daughter Kalia Rose.^[61]

When entering the ring, Katsidis wears a Greek Spartan helmet and in bouts his trunks often resemble a warrior's skirt; both serving as a homage to his Greek heritage.^[1] He also showcases this heritage with a tattoo on his back depicting the Vergina Sun, which is the symbol of the Greek state of Macedonia, from where his family hails.^[62]

His brother, Stathi Katsidis, was one of Australia's most prominent jockeys.^[1][63] On 19 October 2010, Stathi was found dead at his home in Brisbane.^[54][64]

Professional boxing record

Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	28–6	Albert Mensah	MD	10	2012-04-13	Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss	28–5	Ricky Burns	UD	12	2011-11-05	Wembley Arena, Wembley, London, United Kingdom	For Interim WBO Lightweight title.
Win	28–4	Michael Lozada	KO	3	2011-08-13	Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia
Loss	27–4	Robert Guerrero	UD	12	2011-04-09	MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	For Interim WBA & Interim WBO Lightweight titles.
Loss	27–3	Juan Manuel Márquez	TKO	9	2010-11-27	MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	For WBA (Super), WBO & The Ring Lightweight titles.
Win	27–2	Kevin Mitchell	TKO	3	2010-05-15	Upton Park, West Ham, London, United Kingdom	Retained Interim WBO Lightweight title.
Win	26–2	Vicente Escobedo	SD	12	2009-09-19	MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Won Interim WBO Lightweight title.
Win	25–2	Jesús Chávez	TKO	8	2009-04-04	Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas, United States
Win	24–2	Angel Hugo Ramirez	UD	10	2009-01-31	Cebu Coliseum, Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines	Won vacant WBO Asia Pacific Lightweight title.
Loss	23–2	Juan Díaz	SD	12	2008-09-06	Toyota Center, Houston, Texas, United States	For vacant IBO Lightweight title.
Loss	23–1	Joel Casamayor	TKO	10	2008-03-22	Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, Cabazon, California, United States	Lost Interim WBO Lightweight title. For The Ring Lightweight title.
Win	23–0	Czar Amonsot	UD	12	2007-07-21	Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Retained Interim WBO Lightweight title.
Win	22–0	Graham Earl	TKO	5	2007-02-17	The Arena, Wembley, London, United Kingdom	Won Interim WBO Lightweight title.
Win	21–0	Jakkirt Suwunnalirt	KO	2	2006-06-02	Convention & Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Win	20–0	Nonoy Gonzales	TKO	5	2006-03-03	Royal Pines Resort, Ashmore, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Win	19–0	Guillermo Mosquera	TKO	1	2006-02-11	Rumours International, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
Win	18–0	Ranee Ganoy	TKO	5	2005-08-19	Convention & Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia	Retained WBO Asia Pacific Lightweight title.
Win	17–0	Addisu Tebebu	KO	2	2005-06-08	Entertainment Centre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Win	16–0	Kongsuk Patanakan Gym	KO	2	2005-05-20	Panthers World of Entertainment, Penrith, Australia
Win	15–0	Eduardo Enrique Alvarez	KO	1	2005-02-23	Vodafone Arena, Melbourne Park, Victoria, Australia	Retained WBO Asia Pacific Lightweight title.
Win	14–0	Sergio Rafael Liendo	TKO	8	2004-11-06	University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia	Won vacant IBF Pan Pacific Lightweight title.
Win	13–0	Ivan Orlando Bustos	TKO	4	2004-09-24	Panthers World of Entertainment, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia
Win	12–0	Singsiam Eausampan	KO	1	2004-07-16	Panthers World of Entertainment, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia	Retained WBO Asia Pacific Lightweight title.
Win	11–0	Singsamut Eausampan	KO	2	2004-05-05	Entertainment Centre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Win	10–0	Kongthawat Sorkitti	TKO	9	2004-04-08	Cathedral Centre, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia	Won WBO Asia Pacific Lightweight title.
Win	9–0	Fred Kinuthia	UD	10	2004-02-20	Broncos Leagues Club, Red Hill, Queensland, Australia	Won vacant Australian Light Welterweight title.
Win	8–0	Fred Kinuthia	TKO	5	2003-12-05	Panthers World of Entertainment, Penrith, Sydney, Australia
Win	7–0	Daniel Hoskins	TKO	1	2003-09-19	Seagulls Rugby League Club, Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia
Win	6–0	Mohammed Jamal Khan	KO	1	2003-08-22	Southport RSL Club, Southport, Queensland, Australia
Win	5–0	Kevin O'Neill	TKO	4	2002-09-28	Saint Patricks Centre, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
Win	4–0	Jay Washington	TKO	1	2002-07-19	Southport RSL Club, Southport, Queensland, Australia
Win	3–0	Johnny Sheferaw	TKO	7	2002-06-03	E.G. Whitlam Recreation Centre, Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia
Win	2–0	James Swan	UD	12	2002-03-09	Toowoomba Cathedral, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia	Won Australian Lightweight title.
Win	1–0	Danny Wilson	KO	3	2001-12-01	Saint Patricks Centre, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia	Won Australia - Queensland State Lightweight title.

Titles in boxing

Major World Titles:

• Interim WBO Lightweight Champion (135 lbs)
• (2) Interim WBO Lightweight Champion (135 lbs)

Regional/International Titles:

• Australia - Queensland State Lightweight Champion (135 lbs)
• Australian Lightweight Champion (135 lbs)
• Australian Light Welterweight Champion (140 lbs)
• WBO Asia Pacific Lightweight Champion (135 lbs)
• IBF Pan Pacific Lightweight Champion (135 lbs)
• (2) WBO Asia Pacific Lightweight Champion (135 lbs)

References

External links

• Official website
• Professional boxing record for Michael Katsidis from BoxRec