Australian warrior,Michael Katsidis left his heart out in the ring on Friday night at the Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino but it was not enough. His opponent, light welterweight from Ghana , Albert Mensah was more accurate and more effective and won a well deserved majority decision thus holding on to his international IBF title. Officials were divided on how they saw the fight,but in the end justice prevailed. Judge Dick Houck scored a ten round contest 95-95 , overruled by Judge Patricia Morse Jarman 96-94 and Ricardo Ocasio 98-92 in favor of Mensah who improved his professional record to 20-3-1. Always exciting Michael Katsidis who has been going through a slump in his professional career prior to this bout, made some significant changes in hopes of reinventing himself at the age of thirty one. Katsidis moved from land Down under to Hollywood , got a new trainer, Justine Fortune and decided to campaign as a light welterweight instead his usual weight of 135 pounds.
With career in the balance Katsidis attacked his opponent as woodpecker would a giant tree, it’s too bad his beak was too small to do any real damage. Katsidis. whose record fell to 28-6 , attacked from the opening bell and never stopped punching, but his non stop shots were either off the mark or failed to cause any serious damage. On the other hand a much taller fighter from Ghana fired vicious head snapping counter punches off the ropes making marks on the minds of the judges and the face of Michael Katsidis. It was truly a valiant effort from intrepid warrior who has given boxing fans many memorable nights, but it fell short. Katsidis stated on Thursday that he would seriously consider retirement if he didn’t win this fight. He was not available for comments after the fight. Is this the end of glorious career for Michael Katsidis?
In the opening bout of the evening televised by ESPN Friday Night Fights, Alan Sanchez(10-2-1,4KO’S)knocked out Artemio Reyes(15-2,12KO’S) in the very first round of a welterweight contest scheduled for ten. Southern California , Reyes lost his father earlier this month and was advised to pull out by his team, but assured everyone he would be fine and that his dad would have wanted him to go on with a fight. In retrospect it was a big mistake. Hopefully young Reyes could learn from this experience.
