By Rick Reeno & Michael J. Campbell

Sources close to the situation have informed MaxBoxing/BoxingScene.com that a deal is in the works to match Michael Katsidis with former lightweight champion Jesus Chavez. Chavez, who returned to the ring last Friday after battling injuries, has already accepted the fight. The proposed bout is slated to be the co-feature to Joel Casamayor vs. Juan Diaz.

Katsidis is coming off the first loss of his career, a tenth-round knockout at the hands of Casamayor.

The event, at the present, is going to happen on September 13 in Houston, Texas. HBO will televise the doubleheader. The plan by Golden Boy Promotions, who promote all four fighters, is to match the winners at the end of the year or the early part of 2009.

If all goes as planned, it would leave IBF/WBO/WBA lightweight champion Nate Campbell as the odd man out. It would also leave the winner of David Diaz-Manny Pacquiao [who battle for the WBC 135-pound belt on June 28] with a single lightweight option in Campbell. Let's hope that Bob Arum of Top Rank [promotes Diaz and Pacquiao] and Don King [promotes Campbell] can put aside their differences to make the fight happen.

On a sidenote: The September doubleheader is a solid card, but also raises a lot of questions about Casamayor's "Ring Magazine" lightweight title.

Ring Magazine was purchased last year by Golden Boy, and with the purchase of the magazine they also acquired “The Ring” titles. The plan appears to be a minor round-robin lightweight tournament that only involves Golden Boy promoted fighters.

The belt at the heart of this tournament is “The Ring“ lightweight title, a belt that is owned by the same company that promotes all of the fighters involved on the September card. It doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots, and I’m confident that a lot of criticism will rain down on the credibility of “The Ring” lightweight title. There is a serious backlash building against these Ring titles and it’s only going to add fuel to the fire in these scenarios.

Parting Shot: Can anyone please tell me why lightweight contender Jose Armando Santa Cruz, promoted by Golden Boy, has been on the shelf since his loss to Casamayor last November? A loss that just about everyone called the worst decision of the year.