My preview to Juan Manuel Marquez vs Michael Katsidis

[RAZZ-MCFC]

A Tale of Two Warriors A look ahead to Juan Manuel Marquez vs Michael Katsidis

 

'Warrior'. When the term is used in boxing, two of the first names that spring to mind are Juan Manuel Marquez (51-5-1) and Michael Katsidis (27-2-0). Two of the sports greatest modern day gladiators. And on the 27th November these two centurions of the ring will meet in a lightweight clash of the titans for Juan Manuel Marquez' WBO and WBA straps. This bout has been years in the making and after doing things the hard way, Michael Katsidis has finally got a well deserved, well earned shot at World honours, but standing in his way is the reigning king of the lightweight division, Juan Manuel Marquez.

 

Overview of Michael Katsidis' career

 

Katsidis has been involved in plenty of high profile fights in his career, against names like Joel Casamayor, Juan Diaz and Kevin Mitchell. The first big fight of his career was a battle in Britain against the tough slugger Graham Earl for the interim WBO lightweight title, which turned out to be one of the fights of the year.

 

As the fight began Katsidis went on the attack straight away, immediately letting Earl know the sort of power he possessed. Earl stood toe-to-toe with Katsidis though and fired back, both men showing that they were well up for a scrap. Katsidis landed a couple of well placed uppercuts and worked the body of his opponent, and as the end of the round neared Katsidis landed a perfect right hook sending Earl to the canvas. Earl regained his feet on the count of 8 but Katsidis went straight back in with another flurry and sent Earl crashing back down. Mickey Vann again counted to 8 and Earl got back up. The bell sounded for the end of the first round, saving Earl from certain defeat.

 

The second round began and Katsidis rushed in to try and end the fight. He got Earl against the ropes and unloaded with a relentless barrage of combinations, after a short period Earl finally returned fire and both fighters started to trade on the spot, punches flying thick and fast in both directions. Katsidis eventually got the better in the trade though and threw a peach of a right hook which landed flush on Earl's jaw, Earl sunk to the canvas for the third time in the fight. Once again though Earl managed to regain his feet and continue, but almost as soon as the fight resumed, Earl's corner threw in the towel. What happened next was extraordinary to say the least. Earl was still firing back so Mickey Vann picked the towel up and threw it back out of the ring, and a few seconds later Earl threw a big right hook that landed, and forced Katsidis to touch down. Katsidis looked hurt from the shot as his legs had turned to jelly. It didn't take long for him to recover from the shot though and he managed to regain his tempo, yet again resuming as the aggressor.

 

The third round was all action just as the previous two rounds had been. Katsidis continued to throw combo after combo but late on in the round he dealt a low blow to Earl and was deducted a point. The ringside commentators gave it a 10-8 round to Earl although personally I think it was a Katsidis round.

 

The fourth round was possibly one of the best rounds I?e ever seen on live television, and easily a candidate for round of the decade. Both fighters gave it there all but Katsidis came into his own. The amount of punches and combos he landed on Earl was unreal, and it wasn't the fact that Earl was still standing that was the unbelievable part, it was that he was still throwing punches back at Katsidis! At one point when Katsidis had Earl on the ropes he must of landed around 30 unanswered punches, a non-stop flurry of left and rights, hooks, jabs and uppercuts, but still Earl returned fire once Katsidis had burnt out, unbelievable stuff from Earl and an outstanding effort and great show of heart from both fighters, pure entertainment.

 

At the end of the 4th round Earl had a cut open above his eye from the huge Katsidis flurry. Mickey Vann warned him that if the cut was any worse by the end of the 5th round, he was stopping the fight.

 

So the 5th round started and Earl looked as though he had been given a new lease of life, boxing extremely well and turning into the aggressor for the first time in the fight. It didn't last long though as he ran out of steam and Katsidis regained control. Earl saw the round through to the end of the bell but it was to be the last round for him. It wasn't Mickey Vann who stopped the bout as the cut hadn't worsened, but his corner as they said he was taking too many punches. Ultimately it was Earl's health and safety which was the number one priority and rightly so as he had taken a huge amount of punches. There was no shame in losing though as he had put in a huge effort and both fighters did themselves proud. The one factor that was a testament as to how good the fight was, was that there had barely been one clinch in the whole fight, just non-stop action.

 

Katsidis' next major fight was to be against the Cuban Joel Casamayor, with Katsidis' interim WBO title on the line. The fight proved to be a step too far for Katsidis as he was eventually stopped in the 10th round. The problem was that although Katsidis was ahead on all three of the judges scorecards, he continued to come forward and stand toe-to-toe with Casamayor. The stoppage was more a case of Katsidis' eagerness to get the stoppage victory as opposed to Casamayor actually being a better fighter. It came in the tenth round, Katsidis attempted to throw a jab and as he did so Casamayor countered with a huge left hook that landed flush and sent Katsidis crashing to the deck. He regained his feet but the referee waved the fight off as Casamayor went in for the kill and landed another series of big left hooks. The fight included four knockdowns, Katsidis touched down twice in the first round and once in the tenth, and Casamayor tasted the canvas in the 6th round, Katsidis knocking him straight through the ropes.

 

In Katsidis' next fight he was to fight Juan Diaz for the vacant IBO lightweight title. It was another bad night for Katsidis as he lost a split decision. The one judge who scored for Katsidis though, many thought scored it incorrectly, meaning Diaz was unlucky not to win via a unanimous decision. Katsidis seemed to have an off night though as he underperformed massively, it wasn't the same fighter who had destroyed Graham Earl and so nearly overcome Joel Casamayor. That version of Katsidis would have given Diaz hell, and most likely would have gone on to win a big decision or even a late stoppage.

 

Katsidis eventually regained the interim WBO title that he had lost to Casamayor. Casamayor had vacated the title and a fight was set to up between Katsidis and Vicente Escobedo to determine who would claim the title. Katsidis won the fight on a split decision.

 

Next up for Katsidis was the promising, young British prospect; Kevin Mitchell. After Mitchell had previously boxed the ears off of Breidis Prescott he had earnt himself a shot at the interim WBO title against Katsidis. Many thought Kevin had a good chance of beating Katsidis if he boxed smart, but Katsidis made sure that that wasn't the case. Mitchell's game plan went straight out of the window when Katsidis started landing punch after punch. He couldn't cope with Katsidis' constant pressure and cagey style and it was all he could do to hang on. In the third round, Katsidis had Mitchell against the ropes, and after a burst of punches, he landed a huge left hook that knocked Mitchell senseless. Katsidis unloaded and the referee jumped in, bringing Mitchell's unbeaten streak to a dramatic end.

 

The win elevated Katsidis back to the heights he belongs, and now, he is only one win away from his ultimate goal, the goal of becoming a world champion.

 

Overview of Juan Manuel Marquez' career

 

Juan Manuel Marquez has had one of the most glittering careers of any modern day fighter. There are more P4P fighters on his resume than you can count on both hands and he will most definitely go down as one of Mexico's all time greatest. Name's on his record include: Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Marco Antonio Barrera, Joel Casamayor, Chris John and Juan Diaz.

 

Marquez-Pacquiao I and II

 

One of the greatest rivalrys of the past half century and two of the most hotly contested fights of the past decade, Marquez-Pacquiao I and II both proved to be all out wars and fantastic adverts for the sport.

 

Marquez-Pacquiao I was to be contested at featherweight, and ended in a hotly contested draw. The fight was a fantastic one for the boxing enthusiast and neutrals alike. In round one Pacquiao had Marquez on the canvas three times, his speed and aggression from the off catching Juan Manuel cold. From the second round onwards though, Marquez managed to find his feet and box a very smart fight, making it a long night for Manny. Marquez completely dominated the mid rounds and in a lot of people's opinions, did enough in the way of counter punching in the later rounds to win the fight. He was to be denied though as one judge scored the fight 115-110 to Pacquiao, another judge scoring it 115-110 to Marquez, and the final judge scoring the bout 113-113 meaning the fight was to end in a draw. Many boxing fans thought this was a robbery as Marquez has won so many of the rounds after coming back from the three knockdowns in the opening round. Another piece of controversy which emerged after the fight, was that the judge who had scored the bout 113-113, had made a scoring error, instead of scoring the opening round a 10-6 for the three knockdowns, he scored it a 10-7, meaning Pacquiao would of won on a split Decision. You could say it evened itself out, making the draw a more than fair result.

 

Marquez-Pacquiao II was to be contested at super featherweight this time around, and yet again, proved to be a hotly contested bout. The fascinating thing about this fight was that Marquez was knocked down in the third round, but from the fourth round onwards, all the rounds were scored dead even, meaning nine rounds were scored even! One judge scored the bout 115-112 Marquez, another judge scored it 115-112 to Pacquiao and the final judge scoring it 114-113 to Pacquiao, meaning Pacquiao was victorious via a split decision. Compubox figures proved that the judges had incorrectly scored the bout though. They had Marquez landing 21% of his jabs to Pacquiao's 14%, and Marquez landing 42% of his power punches to Pacquiao's 37% making it yet another hotly disputed bout.

 

 

Marquez-Diaz I and II

 

Marquez-Diaz I was one of the best fights in recent years winning Ring magazine's fight of the year 2009. The fight was an all action, all out war, with both fighters standing toe-to-toe, neither backing down from the other. Diaz controlled most of the early rounds with a very aggressive style and was rewarded when he opened up a cut above Marquez' right eye in the fifth round, Marquez hit back though and opened up a cut above Diaz' right eye in the eighth round. Round nine was the best round of the lot though with Marquez finally stepping on the gas. With around 40 seconds left of the round, Marquez unloaded on Diaz with a quick combo of jabs and uppercuts, at the end of which Diaz sunk to the mat, the beating clearly taking it's toll on him. He rose before the ten count and Marquez jumped on him straight away, yet again unleashing a huge combo on Diaz which ended with a big uppercut that sent Diaz crashing to the canvas for the second and final time. The referee didn't bother to take up a count, waving the fight off as Diaz lay flat out on the floor, blood pouring from the cut on his eye. A fallen warrior with nothing to be ashamed of after the brutal war he had just encountered. The victorious gladiator Marquez climbed the ring post, blood also pouring from his wound, but he didn't care, he was the king of the world and he raised both arms in celebration. One thing is for sure, both fighters left the fight with tell tale signs that they had just been in a war. The scorecards at the end of the fight proved just how close the fight had been, one judge had the bout at 77-75 to Marquez, another had it 77-75 to Diaz, and the final judge had it all even at 76-76 meaning the bout was a draw at the time of stoppage!

 

Marquez-Diaz II took place earlier this year and the WBO ordered that the winner was to go on and face their mandatory challenger, Michael Katsidis. The fight ended up being nowhere near the standard of their first. Diaz didn't look like the same fighter from the first fight, he spent the majority of the bout fighting with a cautious approach, rarely coming out of his shell. Had their previous war affected him that much?

 

The fight was quiet and ended up being as one sided as it had looked. Marquez won a big UD, the scorecards reading; 117-111. 116-112 and 118-110.

 

Other notable wins on Juan Manuel's record are Marco Antonio Barrera, Joel Casamayor, Orlando Salido and Rocky Juarez.

 

The fight against Casamayor was made after Joel despatched of the previously unbeaten Michael Katsidis in the 10th round. The first four rounds of their fight was controlled by Casamayor as Marquez walked onto counter after counter. From the fifth round onwards Marquez started to win the rounds by boxing from the outside, using his jab effectively to subdue Casamayor. The eleventh round was the deciding round in the fight. After a furious exchange between the two fighters, Marquez pulled away and planted a right hook on Casamayor's chin sending him to the canvas. Casamayor beat the count and as the action was restarted, Marquez stalked him to the ropes, again unleashing an attack on his still dazed opponent. Marquez threw a huge amount of hooks and jabs in the combo and the assault finally took it's toll on Casamayor as his legs buckled and the fight was waved off with only around 10 seconds left of the round.

 

Marquez also challenged P4P king Floyd Mayweather Jr, but the increase in weight proved to be too much for Marquez and he lost a twelve round shut-out, doing well to last the duration of the fight after getting knocked down in the second round. Marquez later claimed that he lost his speed with the amount of weight he had to put on to go up.

 

A lot of boxing enthusiasts are split between the fighters in the upcoming fight between Marquez and Katsidis, with the odds tipping slightly in Marquez' favour. A few years ago Marquez would have been the clear favourite but after a number of wars and battles, an aggressive fighter like Katsidis could be his undoing in his old age. Marquez is without a doubt the best boxer of the two, and a country mile ahead of Katsidis technically and tactically, but the question is will Juan Manuel be able to handle the constant all out pressure and power of Katsidis? Will age be a key factor? That remains to be seen.

 

 

Comparisons:

 

 

 

Marquez Katsidis

 

Power B+ A-

 

Speed B+ B-

 

Defence C+ D+

 

Movement B+ C+

 

Stamina C+ B+

 

Killer Instinct A+ A+

 

Reflexes B- B-

 

Chin A- B+

 

 

This is a hard fight for me to predict as these are two of my favourite fighters, neither duck anybody and both are true warriors. My head is telling me that Marquez will weather the storm and box his way to a unanimous decision, but my heart is swinging towards Katsidis. The reason is that I think it would be a huge shame and a robbery to the sport if Katsidis was to retire without ever having won a world title.

 

I'll go with my head and predict that Marquez will box a smart and very good technical fight to win a unanimous decision, but there'll be points in the fight where he'll have to prove how big his heart is, and whether it truly is bigger than the one that's beating in the chest of the warrior across the ring.

 

One thing is for sure, Katsidis will have a huge will to win on the night and will stop at nothing to ensure he takes that world title back to Australia, so Marquez can afford to bring nothing but his A game.

 

Let's just hope that this fight is as good as it potentially can be and brings us a fight of the year contender.

 

I wish two of my boxing heroes the very best of luck for the 27th November.

 

Thanks for reading!

[grapevine241]

very nice

[Faulks]

Liking that Razz, thanks for posting it up pal.

 

I think Jmm will win, maybe even by Ko 7-8 round.

 

Either way its going to be a great nights entertainment

[RAZZ-MCFC]

Liking that Razz, thanks for posting it up pal.

 

I think Jmm will win, maybe even by Ko 7-8 round.

 

Either way its going to be a great nights entertainment

 

i agree, i think JMM will pull it off but i'd be glad if either won so i won't be disappointed either way come fight night

[Wheelchair]

Cheers for that Razz! bravo//

[RAZZ-MCFC]

Cheers for that Razz! bravo//

 

i'll whack it on admin as soon as we hit November

[Wheelchair]

Thanks Razz! deal//

[davemurphy]

VERY well done, Razz. I'm truely Impressed, thanks for sharing!!!

[RAZZ-MCFC]

cheers Dave, Ian

[Faulks]

Link added to facebook as well :)

[RAZZ-MCFC]

Link added to facebook as well :)

 

alright mate cheers, i'll link it again when the articles on RN

[Skav]

Good stuff, Ryan!

 

Very thorough.

 

clap//

[RAZZ-MCFC]

cheers Lee bud//

[WelshDevilRob]

Superb mate. Really delves deep. Quality article.

[RAZZ-MCFC]

thanks for all the positive comments guys, really appreciate the good feedback

 

you could easily tell me it's a bag of s**t mlol/

[RAZZ-MCFC]

i've just added this to the end:

 

 

A Final Farewell

 

This past week the world received some very sad news. The brother of Michael Katsidis; Stathi Katsidis, sadly passed away on Tuesday morning. First thing's first, I would like to offer my condolences to Michael and his family, as I can only imagine the pain and sadness which he is having to endure.

 

The tragic news left the upcoming fight hanging in the balance, with Team Katsidis putting the fight on hold until Michael was ready to make his own statement.

 

As the boxing world held it's breath, the well awaited statement from Michael came two days later.

 

“I have lost my closest friend, my inspiration in life, my one and only brother. This is something I could never imagine, but for some reason I feel his life is not a loss. My brother is me! We live our lives through each other. We dedicate our triumphs to one another and share the challenges we face in life. What does someone do when they lose the one person in their life like this? They are devastated right? Allow me to share with you Stathi's thoughts and what he wants. If you can believe me, I feel you will all be somewhat enlightened to hear what I have say.

 

The fight will go on! I will do this for Stathi, my family and myself. The moment I walked in for a gruelling sparring session after hearing the news of his death earlier that day, my trainer Brendon Smith shook my hand and said to me “you are about to take the bravest step of your life”. We nodded, smiled and went to work. I worked as I have never done before. He is with me and will be all the way. I am happy about this.

 

I have never experienced anything like I felt that day. Stathi is inside me! We will fight this fight together. I know this is what he wants.

I would like to thank everyone for their well wishes and prayers for my brother, my family and myself. God bless.”

 

When I first read the statement, I was truly speechless and lost for words. I didn't understand how it was possible for one man to show such courage and bravery. He had just lost his brother yet he still wanted to go ahead with the fight, knowing it would bring him one step closer to accomplishing his dream of becoming a world champion, and knowing many fans would have to cancel trips in the event of him pulling out. I just think this shows what an outstanding individual Michael is, to go through with it even after this sad news. This only enhances his legacy as one of the sport's greatest ever warriors.

 

As I had finished this article before this news came out, I'm going to add a little more in the way of a prediction. I previously stated that I think Marquez will win a tight UD, but with recent events, it could change the outcome dramatically.

 

In a lot of cases, in terms of mental edge, I think this would ruin a lot of fighters, going into a fight of this magnitude, but there's something different about Michael. This seems to only have made him stronger, spurred him on you could call it. It just shows how much when you read that the day he heard the news, he was straight into the gym and did the best training session he's ever done. As he stated, he doesn't see Stathi's passing as a loss, because he and Stathi are the same person. I just think he'll feel even stronger going in to the fight, and he'll want to win it and put on a huge performance for his brother.

 

My new prediction is a mid-late round stoppage for Michael. It was a close one to call to begin with but I think after recent events, Michael will show a new side in the ring come the 27th November. I think he'll show a lot of built up aggression, more than he usually does in the ring. The come forward, aggressive style could prove far too much to deal with for the ageing Marquez.

 

I think come fight night we can expect World War 3 when these two collide. There are only two ways I see it panning out – a Marquez UD or a Katsidis stoppage, we shall have to wait and see

 

Thanks for reading!

 

R.I.P Stathi Katsidis

(Feb 1979-Oct 2010)

[WelshDevilRob]

Nice touch, Razz.

 

I personally thought Katsidis had a great chance before the death of his brother as Marquez is not quite as good as he was in the Pacquiao days while Katsidis is near the height of his abilities. Was tough to call anyway as its a superb match-up.

 

The death of Michaels brother makes things up in the air as to how it will affect him. Will it completely distract him and disrupt his preparations or will it inspire and make him even more determined. Only time will tell.

[RAZZ-MCFC]

Nice touch, Razz.

 

I personally thought Katsidis had a great chance before the death of his brother as Marquez is not quite as good as he was in the Pacquiao days while Katsidis is near the height of his abilities. Was tough to call anyway as its a superb match-up.

 

The death of Michaels brother makes things up in the air as to how it will affect him. Will it completely distract him and disrupt his preparations or will it inspire and make him even more determined. Only time will tell.

 

i know mate that's the reason it's such a good fight, nobody knows who'll win