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MICHAEL KATSIDIS SUPER WARRIOR, WORLD CHAMPION, HISTORY MAKER PhilBoxing.com Tue, 11 Oct 2011  Every young boys dream is to grow up and be a super hero, a world champion or to change history to achieve greatness in any field it takes not only dedication and sacrifice, but overcoming all to achieve greatness in any field it takes not only dedication and sacrifice, but overcoming all obstacles whether it?s physical or mental. Michael Katsidis may not be a super hero to everyone, and to his fans he is a lot more, he is a super warrior. When he enters the ring wearing his gladiator outfit everybody in the stadium knows war is about to break out. People know that when Michael fights it?s to the death no quarter is given, there is no giving up. So sum it up one true fan once really matters; it?s what the the knowledge that Queensland has honours.? Others class Michael as a hero, but under his tough exterior is a humble person. Michael hasn?t let the fame and glory takes control of his life; he would be the first one to come to somebodies aid. So much so that over his boxing career he has donated to various charities, through time and money and mimics the famous quote from Alexander the Great; ?Remember, upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.? Michael is a true Queenslander born and raised, he is one that hasn?t forgotten his roots, and still loves his home town, Toowoomba. He knew from an early age that one day he would be a World Champion and to achieve his goal he would have to leave his beloved country and take on the World. In 2007 Michael and his long-time Friend, Manager and Trainer Brendon Smith packed their bongos and headed to the UK to take on Graham Earl for the Interim WBO Lightweight World Championship. As history shows Michael won convincingly in the fifth round with such an onslaught of aggression and power, it was the same aggression and power that deemed the fight as the best for that year. With any sporting career there are the ups and downs, after a successful defence against Czar Amonsot, he took on the Legend Joel Casamayor. It was Michael?s first defeat, and although he had punched Casamayor out of the ring, he was caught in the 10th and went down for the count. For Michael, giving up was not an option and with that he and Brendon decided to move their training camp to Thailand, where life is simple and away from the hype and outside influence. Brendon would instil in Michael that a boxer does it hard in the ring and there for training should be the same, no luxuries and no attention. Their attitude and dedication payed off in Nov 2008 when Michael was once again fighting for the Interim WBO Lightweight Championship against Vicente Escobeto. The fight went the distance with Michael the victor via a split decision which, at the time, amazed the crowd who had already decided it should have been a unanimous call. Having fought his last two fights in America, Michael once again travelled back to the UK to defend his title, taking on the undefeated Kevin Mitchell. Even before arriving Michael was written off by the media saying, ?he?s had to many hard fights, he is getting to old.? The fight took place in Upton Park in front of 25,000 mostly Kevin Mitchell supporters. In three rounds Michael destroyed their beloved, and undefeated, Kevin. Michael was back with vengeance, never fitter and ready to take on the best. All the struggle and hard work finely payed off, he was to fight the legend, the superstar and future hall of famer Juan Manual Marquez for the unification of the Lightweight division (WBO, WBA and Ring Magazine Lightweight titles), his childhood dreams coming to fruition. The training camp in Thailand was in high spirits, everything was going to plan, Michael was fit and confident taking on the world?s best lightweight. Then five weeks before the event tragedy stuck. At 6 am Brendon got a phone call that nobody wants to get, he was informed that Michael?s brother Stathi had died earlier that morning. Michael was out for his morning run, and no one could imagine what was going through Smith?s mind while he awaited his boxers return. Michael and Stathi could not have been closer as brothers; they spoke on the phone daily, equally supportive of each other when the chips were down. To Michael ?he was more than my brother; he was also my best friend.? Not one person in the World would have been surprised if Michael cancelled the fight, he just lost his best friend, something of this significance needs time to sink in, time to reflect and most importantly time to grieve. Being the true warrior Michael is he informed millions of eager fans that he would continue. In his own words ?Stathi would want me to fight on, I?m going to win this for him. I know he will be there in the ring with me.? If the camp wasn?t suffering enough, Brendon gets another phone call a few days later telling him his nephew was involved in a motorcycle accident and is paralysed from the neck down. In their time of grieve, the two of them were alone without their families and friends, after discussion they did what they knew best, train to fight! Brendon said to Michael, ?If you want to take on Marquez, let?s go to the gym and take it out on the bags.? Michael was physically ready, but how do you fight a world champion like Marquez and the demons inside your head at the same time. The fairy tale nearly came off in the third round, and with a beautiful left hook he knocked Marquez to the canvas, any other boxer wouldn?t have got up, but this was Juan Manual Marquez! The super champion then went on to win the fight in the ninth round by stoppage, but once again the fight was nominated for the fight of the year. Michael returned to Australia in 2011 after being away for five years to be with his family and try to come to terms with his brothers passing and regroup following two consecutive defeats. Being back in Toowoomba surround by friends and family, Michael resumed his training at the newly established Smithy?s Gym, which is owned and operated by long-time friend, trainer and manager Brendon Smith. The past seemingly washed off Michael and felt he was ready to take on the world again. Together they formed a partnership and promoted a fight at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre against Michael Lozada. The night was a huge success with Michael Katsidis stopping Lozada in the third round. The only disappointing aspect of the whole night was Australian TV would not support or televise the event, Michael and Brendon organised and payed for Aurora to broadcast a delayed telecast of the fight so his fans at least had a chance to see ?The Great? back in action on Australian soil As one fan wrote from the UK ?I simply cannot believe that the fight is NOT to be televised, given the fact that this is Michael?s homecoming contest, you would think that someone in Australian Broadcasting would have made a more positive decision. I ponder on the fact that Michael is much more respected on foreign soil than he is in his own country ? ye Gods, if this had been a fighter from my nation, Scottish Television would have ensured we had wall-to-wall pictures of the entire event!!! To illustrate my point even further, if and when Michael returns to the ring in UK, you can bet that Sky, BBC and ITV will have to form a queue in order to cover Katsidis at work, he is probably one of the most respected overseas boxers, few have forgotten the destruction of Mitchell and indeed Earl at the hands of Michael, people want to see fighters fight and Michael delivers every time in this department ? why do the Australian broadcasters see it differently?? So now Michael returns to the UK to fight Ricky Burns. Michael Katsidis is Australian?s greatest boxer, some still call him Rocky, others Brit Bruiser, we all know him as Katsidis The Great and come Nov 5 he will achieve what no other boxer has ever done. History will be re-written when Katsidis The Great will fight for the third time to win the WBO Lightweight championship of the world. He will use his fists not his mouth on Nov 5 and in the words of Plato, "Wise men only speak when it is necessary, fools talk excessively because they feel they have to.? It?s great news that MAINEVENT will be broadcasting the fight live in Australia, early morning of the 6th of November. So Australia get behind this great man, he fights for his fans, his heritage and his pride he is a man whose childhood dreams are about to become reality. Two hat-tricks in the making Earl, Mitchell and Burns. Three WBO Lightweight Titles. Truly Australia?s Super Warrior (Hero), World Champion and History Maker. Even a song has been written about Michael?s sacrifice and determination to be the world?s No. 1. You can listen to the song at: iTunes ? Music ? Katsidis The Great ?Single by Owie Paroz Written By Stanley Curin For more information or interviews with Michael you can contact Brendon Smith, his Manager/Trainer via his email:bsringstar@gmail.com For sponsorship contact Scott Chapman at scott@katsidisthegreat.com.au  |
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