By Mark Vester

At the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, WBA/WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (52-5-1, 38KOs) stopped Michael Katsidis (27-3, 22KOs) in the ninth round to retain his titles.

Marquez using some strong combinations to make his point felt in the first, and getting some respect from Katsidis. In the second, Katsidis began to place a lot of pressure on Marquez. Katsidis stayed on top of him and started throwing good punches. Marquez was firing back with accurate punches to the head and body.

In the third, Katsidis came on with a hard left hook to drop Marquez. He made it up and was able to weather the storm. By the end of the round, Marquez began to land hard punches with both hands to rally. Katsidis continued to press the action in the fourth and fifth. They were trading some very hard punches in the final round of the fifth.

The sixth was fought close. Katsdis was putting on a lot of pressure and the two of them were trading some heavy shots. Marquez digging often to the body with hooks. The face of Katsidis was starting to swell real bad. In the seventh, Marquez was doing a lot of punches to the body. Katsidis was trading with him to the head. They were went to war at the end of the final minute. The same trend continued in the eight round, but Katsidis appeared to be slowing down.

In the ninth, Marquez rocked Katsidis with a hard uppercut. Marquez started pouring on the heat with punches from both hands. Katsidis was trying to circle and get away but Marquez stayed on him and banged away until the ref stopped the fight.