Thoughts on Katsidis vs Diaz

Well it wasn't quite as brutal as I had thought it would be, but Juan Diaz took Michael Katsidis apart surgically. Three, four, hell even seven punch combinations were common place at the outset and middle of the fight from Diaz. Make no mistake, I have nothing but respect for Michael Katsidis, but the notion that he will be the next Arturo Gatti is pure fantasy. He always fights a good fight and has tons of heart, but Gatti would at least start the fight boxing, and when that failed (as it often did) he would let his hands go in a full bore ass stomping worthy of your pay per view dollars.

Diaz looked strong, especially on defence, and his stiff jab seriously messed up Katsidis and managed to check most of his agression for the first 8 rounds. When Diaz set up his combinations, they were disgusting. He was carving Katsidis up on the inside with uppercuts and body shots and then finishing upstairs with a left hook to the grill. As Max Kellerman pointed out during the fight, Diaz may not look it, but he is a pretty strong fighter. Katsidis was trying to impose his will on the seemingly weaker Diaz by leaning on him and attempting to cut down the ring, but it was to no avail. Towards the end of the fight Katsidis finally started to work the body a bit, and some of his clubbing shots that hit Diaz in the bicep seemed to begin taking effect. Unfortunately for the Australian fighter his conerman was totally in the dark it seemed and failed to give him any salient pointers on how to win the fight. Katsidis won some of the last rounds but even though one of the judges scored the fight FOR him, there was no doubt in my mind (or any of the ringside announcers minds for that matter) that he got beat the fuck up.

So what's next for Katsidis? Perhaps if he scored a new trainer or just beasted on some weaker fighters he could get to the next level. It was a decent fight, still worth watching, but not the 'Fight of The Year' candidate that everyone was talking about. Personally I'm looking forward to Roy vs Calzaghe, and for the record I hope Roy lays a beat down on Joe, he was always a personal favourite of mine.