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KATSIDIS VS DIAZ IS A CERTIFIED WAR By Ronnie Nathanielsz PhilBoxing.com Thu, 04 Sep 2008 When two ferocious young men whose ring careers have been anchored on pure aggression face each other, its bound to be an all-out war. This is the underlying theme of the battle between two former world champions ? Michael Katsidis of Australia and Juan ?Baby Bull? Diaz of Houston, Texas at the Toyota Center in Diaz? hometown this Sunday, Manila Time. Katsidis put a grim spin on the fight by telling ESPN Sports Nation ?this fight has the potential for someone to get seriously hurt? while respected boxing writer James Donovan of the Boxing Writers Association of America said Diaz and Katsidis ?carry into this fight nothing but pride. But its their fighting heart that makes this match-up so compelling.? Both Katisidis and Diaz have only one blemish on their otherwise unbeaten slates. Katsidis is 23-1 with 20 knockouts while Diaz is 33-1 with 17 knockouts. They lost to the reigning champions in different world organizations. Katsidis got careless and lost by a 10th round TKO to 37 year old southpaw Joel Casamayor while Diaz dropped a twelve round split decision to 36 year old Nate Campbell in a WBA/IBF/WBO title clash last March 8, just two weeks before Katsidis lost his WBO interim title. Filipino fight fans remember Katsidis for two reasons. He was challenged to the limit by a gallant Czar Amonsot in one of the bloodiest battles on July 21 last year before winning a unanimous twelve round decision and winding up in a hospital bed in Las Vegas, next to the Filipino southpaw. Katsidis was cut badly, prompting boxing writers to compare him to Arturo Gatti, the former champion who was pure aggression in the ring and a fighter who got cut easily and bled profusely. Doctors found a tiny speck of blood in the brain of Amonsot and that regrettably ended a promising career. The second reason for remembering Katsidis was when he stepped in as captain of the Philippine team against Mexico in the World Cup in Sacramento on August 11 last year and enjoyed his role when Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao failed to make it for one reason or another. The fights on HBO?s ?Boxing After Dark? will be telecast by the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN over its pre-eminent Channel 2 at 10:00 a.m. with a replay over the same channel at 10:30 p.m. As though the Katsidis-Diaz fight was not attractive enough Golden Boy Promotions has scheduled a co-feature between two ambitious contenders. Hometown boy Rocky Juarez (27-4, 19 KO?s) takes on hard-punching Jorge Barrios (47-3-1, 34 KO?s) of Argentina in a twelve round junior lightweight bout that could conceivably push the main event for attention. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.  |
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