Michael Katsidis

Michael Alan Katsidis (Μιχάλης Κατσίδης; born 15 August 1980) is an Australian former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017.

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.

In an amateur career which began at the age of 11, Katsidis compiled a record of 75 wins and 6 losses.

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.

Katsidis made his professional debut on 1 December 2001 by stopping Danny Wilson in the third round for the Queensland lightweight title.

In 2001, Katsidis was convicted for assault after getting involved in an altercation with a man and breaking his jaw.

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.

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.

He held the WBO interim lightweight title twice between 2007 and 2010, and challenged twice for the lineal lightweight title in 2008 and 2010.

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.

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 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. Ronald "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.

Amonsot was later found to have a subdural hematoma, putting his career in serious doubt at the time.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.