Michael Alan Katsidis ( ; ; born 15 August 1980) is an Australian former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017.Lutton, Phil (6 June 2020). "'Of course I'm the best': Sydney fighter on path for blockbuster world title bout". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 April 2021. He held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) interim lightweight title twice between 2007 and 2010, and challenged twice for the lineal lightweight title in 2008 and 2010. At the peak of his career in the late 2000s, Katsidis' crowd-pleasing and aggressive pressure fighting style often drew comparisons with the late Arturo Gatti.Rafael, Dan (21 March 2008). "Katsidis ready to go to war with Casamayor". ESPN. Retrieved 3 January 2013.Koch, Dan (16 May 2009). "Gladiator Michael Katsidis ready to tame Kevin Mitchell". The Australian. Retrieved 3 January 2013.Christie, Drew (12 May 2010). "Michael Katsidis ready for all comers in the ring". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
Amateur career In an amateur career which began at the age of 11, Katsidis compiled a record of 75 wins and 6 losses."Chat with Michael Katsidis". SportsNation. ESPN. 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2013. During this time he represented the Australian Olympic team in the lightweight division at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. He also attained a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport."Roll of honour - AIS Roll of Honour for the Olympics" . Australian Institute of Sport. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
2000 Olympic results First round: defeated Agnaldo Nunes – 15:6 Second round: lost to Nurzhan Karimzhanov – 7:9
Professional career
2001–2007: early years Katsidis made his professional debut on 1 December 2001 by stopping Danny Wilson in the third round for the Queensland lightweight title. In his second fight on 9 March 2002, he won a twelve-round unanimous decision over James Swan for the Australian lightweight championship. He would go on to score another nineteen wins, nearly all by knockout, while amassing a further three lower-level titles: the Australian light-welterweight, WBO Asia Pacific lightweight and IBF Pan Pacific lightweight championships, respectively.
In 2001, Katsidis was convicted for assault after getting involved in an altercation with a man and breaking his jaw.Keen, Ryan (5 November 2016). "Michael Katsidis on jail, drugs, death, prime time and his path to redemption". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 3 December 2016. Katsidis pleaded not guilty, maintaining self-defence, but was sentenced to eight months in prison between 2002 and 2003, six months of which were spent at the high-security Woodford Correctional Centre north of Brisbane. The conviction later made it difficult for Katsidis to obtain a visa to the United States, which was refused twice in 2005 and 2006.Dobbin, Winsor (2 July 2006). "Fighting for his future". The Age. Retrieved 16 January 2013.Warren, Adrian (31 October 2006). "Katsidis loses title shot". The Advertiser. Retrieved 3 January 2013."USA Visa blow for Katsidis". SecondsOut. 2006. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
Battle with Earl On 17 February 2007, a bout for the newly created and vacant WBO interim lightweight title was made between Katsidis and Graham Earl at the Wembley Arena in London. In an action-packed and fast-paced fight, Katsidis and Earl went toe-to-toe and traded many heavy blows, 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 for it 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 Earl's cornermen to stop the fight after the fifth round."Earl left to rue Katsidis battle". BBC Sport. 19 February 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
United States debut Katsidis was scheduled to face then-WBO super featherweight champion Joan Guzmán on 26 May 2007, but the latter withdrew from the fight due to a hand injury."Katsidis defence postponed". Fox Sports. 11 May 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2013. Katsidis later defended his WBO interim lightweight title against Czar Amonsot on 21 July 2007 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. This was Katsidis' first fight in the United States, as well as the first of his many appearances on the HBO network, as part of the pay-per-view undercard to Bernard Hopkins vs. Winky Wright.
Both boxers would go on to wage an intense, bloody war over the twelve-round distance. Amonsot proved to be a tough and durable opponent, despite suffering knockdowns in rounds two and ten. The judges' scorecards ultimately read 116–110, 115–111 and 114–112 for Katsidis, but both men were subsequently hospitalised at the local Valley Hospital Medical Center, with Amonsot requiring an overnight stay and Katsidis multiple stitches for serious cuts around his eyes, which had begun to bleed heavily from the third round onwards.Warren, Adrian (22 July 2007). "Battered Katsidis wants Diaz". The Advertiser. Retrieved 3 January 2013. Amonsot was later found to have a subdural hematoma, putting his career in serious doubt at the time.Rafael, Dan (25 July 2007). "Brain bleed likely finishes Filipino boxer's U.S. career". ESPN. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
2008
First defeat A bout with then-IBF/WBA/WBO 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 from occurring.Reeno, Rick (15 December 2007). "Diaz-Katsidis Off, Savannah Livid with Don King". BoxingScene. Retrieved 3 January 2013. On 22 March at the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California, Katsidis fought reigning WBC and The Ring magazine lightweight champion Joel Casamayor.
The Cuban southpaw got off to a good start by catching Katsidis early on with sharp left hands, dropping him twice in the first round. As the fight continued, Katsidis' harder 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 by Katsidis. In the ninth round, Casamayor was docked 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 in the tenth round, flooring him for a fourth time. 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.Mitchell, Peter (23 March 2008). "Lapse costs Katsidis in brutal bout" . The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 January 2013. This handed Katsidis his first defeat and cost him the WBO interim lightweight title. Again, cuts and bruises were noticeable around his eyes after the fight.
Second defeat Following the defeat, a rescheduled fight with Juan Díaz was set for 6 September at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, for the vacant IBO lightweight championship. Over the course of twelve rounds, Katsidis underperformed and enabled a determined Díaz (who had himself suffered a career first loss in his previous fight) to counterpunch and time his attacks with regularity. His face bloodied and bruised once again, Katsidis suffered his second consecutive defeat, with Díaz winning a split decision. Two of the judges scored the fight 116–112 and 115–113 for Díaz, while the third scored it a somewhat controversial 115–113 for Katsidis.Berkwitt, Brad (7 September 2008). "Houston Fighters Juan Díaz and Rocky Juarez win big, but judges are the big losers". Ringside Report. Archived from the original on 6 May 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
2009
Comeback trail
An opportunity for Katsidis to reclaim the vacant WBO Asia Pacific lightweight title was scheduled for 31 January 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 gunshy at times, coupled with Ramirez's unwillingness to engage. Ramirez was knocked down four times (once in the second round and three times in the fourth), while a point was deducted from Katsidis for hitting Ramirez when he was floored from a slip later in the second round. At the end of the fight, the judges scored 98–87, 96–89 and 96–89 in favour of Katsidis.Upham, Paul (31 January 2009). "Katsidis Gets Comfortable Points Win Over Ramirez". SecondsOut. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
On 4 April, Katsidis faced Jesús Chávez 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.Vester, Mark (13 February 2009). "Valero-Pitalua, Katsidis-Chavez Heads to San Antonio". BoxingScene. Retrieved 3 January 2013. After an initially tentative start by 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.Warren, Adrian (5 April 2009). "Michael Katsidis targets the big names after win over Jesus Chavez". Fox Sports. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
Pay-per-view return Katsidis' next opponent was Vicente Escobedo, whom he fought on 19 September at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, as part of the undercard to Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Márquez. The bout was for the WBO interim 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 WBO lightweight world champion.Leslie, Cameron (6 August 2009). "Katsidis eyes next title shot". The Toowoomba Chronicle. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
In a fight similar to the one with Amonsot two years prior, Katsidis and Escobedo exchanged hard punches for the full twelve rounds, with Katsidis surging forward aggressively and putting constant pressure on the retreating yet accurately counterpunching Escobedo. As per routine, cuts opened up around Katsidis' face early on, together with a visibly swollen jaw in the closing rounds. At the end of the contest, the judges were split with 118–110 and 115–113 for Katsidis and 116–112 for Escobedo.Fischer, Doug (19 September 2009). "Katsidis edges Escobedo". The Ring. Sports & Entertainment Publications. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
2010
Return to London Having reclaimed the interim title, Katsidis was made to wait several months to see if a mandatory title bout with Juan Manuel Márquez would materialise. This was dependent on whether Márquez was willing return to the lightweight division to defend his WBO championship, or if he would voluntarily relinquish it to Katsidis in favour of moving up to light-welterweight for potentially bigger fights.Vester, Mark (22 September 2009). "Katsidis Targets Marquez, Jaw Checks Out Fine". BoxingScene. Retrieved 3 January 2013."Katsidis' next bout on agenda". The Toowoomba Chronicle. 9 December 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2013. By January 2010, Márquez had not yet expressed any desire to defend against Katsidis.