Katsidis Shines in Vegas
Australian lightweight contender Michael Katsidis (26-2, 21 KO's) secured the WBO interim lightweight title on Saturday night with one of the most impressive performances of his career when he won a split twelve round decision over Vicente Escobedo at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. He won by scores of 118-110, 116-112 and 112-116 (to Escobedo) over twelve championship rounds.
From the opening bell the 29 year old from Toowoomba, Queensland lived up to his reputation as "Katsidis The Great" with a come forward, aggressive approach that saw him take the fight to the highly regarded American Escobedo, who was a member of the US Olympic team in 2004 and came to the ring with a high boxing pedigree and just one professional loss early in his career.v
Katsidis fought well in close up using his determination and consistently forcing Escobedo to box on the retreat. The Australian landed with effective right hands throughout the fight and adopted pressure tactics for the full twelve rounds. Trainer Brendon Smith consistently told his fighter in between rounds to maintain his controlled boxing and Katsidis responded with one of the best displays of his exciting career.
It appeared that Team Katsidis had worked heavily on defence with their fighter taking many less punches than are usually expected in his exciting fights. His defence was superb and when matched with the effective and aggressive work rate, he dominated for most of the rounds.
At the end of the first round, Katsidis was cut over the left eye but this did not deter him and he applied pressure throughout the fight and seemed to win a wide decision. The scorecards of Robert Hoyle (118-110) and Duane Ford (116-112) seemed to correctly reflect the dominance of Katsidis and the scoring of Mike Fitzgerald from Wisconsin with 116-112 to Escobedo brought surprise to everyone at ringside.
The final punch statistics showed that Katsidis landed 335 punches to Escobedo's 295 which highlighted the superiority of the Australian lightweight in the bout.
The American Escobedo seemed to have some success in the last two rounds when he stopped boxing on the retreat and threw some caution to the wind and landed some good left hooks. Indeed, Katsidis finished the fight with a swollen right jaw which could have been an indication of a fractured jaw for the brave Australian.
With this win Katsidis regained the WBO interim lightweight title which he held in 2007 and with the loss of full WBO champion Juan Manuel Marquez in the main event, the Australian could be declared the full WBO champion or at least Marquez forced to take on the Australian in his next fight.
Overall Katsidis boxed one of his best ever fights, maintaining the exciting come forward aggression we have been used to but this time showing strong defensive skills that elevated the performance against one of the best lightweights in the world.
Some exciting and lucrative fights now lie ahead for the exciting Australian in one of the toughest weight divisions of 135 pounds in world boxing.