In any event and like Cher?s final tour, it won?t be over until it?s over because Michael has failed to take the cue?
?The aging fighter who simply doesn?t know when to quit is one of boxing?s most enduring clich?s, but sadly it is one of those tropes that is a clich? because it?s true.??James Garner
?I am open-minded. I have been in some pretty big wars. I can wear these scars proudly, and I can assure you they are not internal.??Michael Katsidis
?I fight ?cause I love it and I am in this to win titles.??Katsidis
?It?s very hard to make something safe when the whole idea is to knock out your opponent.??Matt Watson
In boxing, the most common life-threatening injury encountered by its participants is subdural hematoma (SDH), a rupturing of the veins between the brain and the skull; and the most dreaded (and longer range) consequence of chronic insult to the nervous system is dementia pugilistica. SDH often requires surgical intervention. Many well-known neurologists are working hard to make boxing safer by trying to pinpoint subtle changes in examinations and scans that portend serious future damage in order to whisk fighters out of the ring in time. And this leads us to Michael ?The Great? Katsidis.
2007 Going Forward
Back in July 2007, Katsidis and Pinoy hard man Czar Amonsot waged a brutal 12-round war in Las Vegas. Czar suffered a subdural hematoma thus ending his boxing career in the United States. After an 18-month layoff, he returned and has gone 10-0-2 against moderate opposition since the encounter with Katsidis. Ironically, the Czar now toils mostly in Australia.
The fight took its toll on Katsidis as well. He has gone 8-7 since that savagery. In between, Katsidis retired for 15 months after a doctor discovered minor brain scarring during pre-fight scans and warned that his health was at risk if he continued in the sport. Katsidis listened and? retired.? Reportedly, however, five neurologists subsequently cleared him. Some called it a misdiagnosis, but strong skepticism remains.
The native Aussie, who often reminded fans of Ricky Hatton, Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward, always gave 110% with his incoming, all-action style. It was a fan-friendly style but one not designed for ring longevity. The grueling classics in which he participated exacted a heavy toll. In 2007 and 2008, he had three consecutive fights-of-the-year contenders in interim lightweight title bouts?winning an incredible brawl with Graham Earl by fifth round knockout in England, the aforementioned bloody unanimous decision against Amonsot in Las Vegas, and a 10th round crunching knockout loss to Joel Casamayor in a back-and-forth thriller in California. The operative word for each fight was ?mayhem.?
There were other toll-taking and bloody wars against Robert Guerrero, Jesus Chavez, Vincent Escobedo, and Kevin Mitchell. Also, a decision loss to Juan Diaz and a ninth round TKO loss to an aroused and counterpunching Juan Manuel Marquez who landed one jarring uppercut after another until Kenny Bayless stepped in and called a mercy stoppage to the onslaught. The Great dropped the legendary Marquez hard in their 2010 war and almost overwhelmed him early but it was not to be. Despite a third defeat for Katsidis, the JMM fight went on to win HBO?s award for 2010 Fight of the Year. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfWPnFwJqXs
2012-2014
In July 2013, Katsidis expressed his desire for a nostalgic farewell fight in his hometown of Toowoomba, where he had not fought since 2006. After losing to Ghanaian Albert Mensah by majority decision in April 2012, Katsidis took two years off because of the medical scare, but came back in 2014 for the farewell bout against Indonesian Eddy Comaro (29-18-5) in March at the Convention Centre in Toowoomba. He stopped the heavily-traveled Comaro in three rounds.
Bidding ?farewell? to farewell, a rematch with Graham Earl, whom Katsidis fought in 2007, took place in July in Toowoomba, and Michael won a unanimous decision this time with dominating scores of 120-109, 120-108 and 119-109, but It was nowhere near as exciting as their earlier classic. And this led to his fight with young and dangerous Tommy ?Boom Boom? Coyle in October 2014 in Yorkshire, UK.
Coyle
Michael was fed to Coyle (19-2) as cannon fodder, and Coyle ate up ?The Great,? knocking him out with one hard left hook in Round 2. Katsidis went down backward and was very unsteady when he regained his feet prompting the stoppage. The fact that Coyle was subsequently dismantled by 2012 Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell in a Brit dust-up demonstrates just how far Michael had deteriorated. It was clear that time and years of punishment had caught up with him. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fez9zWltH1U
China (2015)
?If I can be victorious I earn a WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental title and a World rating.??Katsidis
?If I don?t win, that?s life?It won?t change the person I have become since returning to Toowoomba.??Katsidis
After the Coyle disappointment, Katsidis (31-7) implied that it was over, but that didn?t last long. After still another comeback win against useful Filipino Rodynie Rafol (12-6-1), Michael, who is just days shy of 35, is now scheduled to fight 23-year-old Kaewfah Tor Buamas at the Yu Hang Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China, on September 12 for the vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental lightweight title.
The Thai fighter has an imposing 19-0 record?imposing that is until it is given more than a casual glance. Only one of his opponents, Oke ?Ariyanto? Haryanto, had a winning record and he was 5-3-1 coming in; he is now 5-6-1. Twelve of the 19 wins came against fighters making their debut. And get this: ?The Great? has another fight set for October after the Buamas outing, in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.
?This (the China fight) is big opportunity for Michael,? says Brendon Smith, Michael?s manager.
Maybe so and should Katsidis win easily, perhaps with a spectacular stoppage, it will simply camouflage the fact that his ring deterioration has been manifest and that he no longer should be in a boxing ring.
While someone needs to step in and save Michael from himself that intervention doesn?t appear likely, so the next best scenario might be that he finds a comfortable groove like Roy Jones Jr. and wins fights at a lower but safer level. In any event and like Cher?s final tour, it won?t be over until it?s over because Michael has failed to take the cue.
Ted Sares is a member of the Ring 4 Boxing Hall of Fame (New England) and a member of Ring 10 (New York). He is one of the oldest active powerlifters in the world and competes in the Grand Master Class.
