Team Katsidis: An Example Of What Not To Do

[BennyST]

I wish Katsidis could hear me.. I was saying "..be careful.. go back to the body, Mike.." in between the 9th and 10th..

That's it right there mate! His ****ing corner truly lost him the fight. All the corner should have been telling him to do was "keep your hands high and when you get in close **** to the body and you'll have 'im!"

I just don't think they have the ability to lead him against the big boys. He needs a new trainer badly as I started thinking in his last fight against Amonsot. They never actually give him any specific advice, it's all just "C,mon mate, you gotta pick it up now." or "You're doing great mate, just more of the same, more of the same!" What the **** is that all about? He needed to be told to relax, that he had the fight in the bag and he could of had it won if he just took it easy kept his hands, threw more left hooks as Casa was expecting the right hand, and went to the body more than anything.

That's all they needed to tell him to do and he would of had it! God damn, I was so depressed when that happened! Still am. He was deserving of that title and his corner ****ed it up.

[Wiley Hyena]

Casamayor way too good for Katsidis. That old man is a crafty mongoose.

[BennyST]

What are you implying that he would have won the fight or was winning. I didn't see it that way. Besides you don't know what could of happened in the rest of the fight. Why are you trying to make excuses for the loser anyway? Are you guys dating?

What the hell kind of response is that? He most certainly was on his way to winning and had even dominated the action for a few rounds previous. He was completely breaking Casa down with body shots which his corner, very unwisely, didn't tell him to keep up. They should have been telling him to not throw the right hand much and get stuck into the body even more with left hooks as his main head shot weapon.

Casa had trained well for the right hand and was countering it perfectly. The moronic corner of Katsidis should have known and seen this and told him to stop throwing it especially towards the end when for some baffling and unknown reason they were telling him to keep doing what he was doing and pick it up when it very obviously was not at all working. All they had to say was stop throwing the right hand, go back to body and throw left hooks to the head. That was what was working for him and what was getting through with no danger of huge counters.

A sad and unfortunate way to lose the huge shot for Katsidis. I just hope he comes back better than ever and can get rid of his corner. They are just not on the level to be in the corner of someone as good as Katsidis (world level). They have neither the experience or ability to think properly under stress. They also don't actually tell him anything specific to do. General statements don't get it done at certain times.

[BennyST]

Casamayor way too good for Katsidis. That old man is a crafty mongoose.

He is a crafty old devil. He uses his head to perfection. As good as old man Hopkins at those ring tactics. Although I will disagree with him being too good. He had the experience, and his great ring tricks but he was as lucky as he was good on this night.

As we saw, Katsidis had that fight in the bag and apart from some terrible advice from a corner that had no business in a fight of that magnitude he had Casa beaten.

Rematch!!!!

[RodBarker]

Something to keep in mind Benny , Katsidis is a maniac , have you seen his early fights in Aus , wild aggression destroy destruct ,,, that is his character not his style , its who he is , Brendon trys to keep him calm and controlled , he may not have said body specificaly , but he did say keep doing what your doing but we want you lift a little more , now dont go crazy ,,,, that was going into the 10th , if Rocky had of followed instead of wild KO attempts like it was the last round he probably wins the fight , Brenden has been with him from the start and they have a good relationship ,,, what Im trying to say is its hard to contain a Pitbull in the middle of a fight ,,, its unfair to blame the corner for the loss as Rocky reverted to what he is by instinct and that was his mistake and he himself knows it , its easy to sit on the outside after the fact and say what should have been said , its very different under the lights .

[Silencers]

I agree with you in the sense that Katsidis followed the advice of his corner, in his own mind, to turn up the aggresion. The men that advised him to do so must have seen him daily in training and known that he was prone to sloppy,wild shots. I still feel like, in their minds, it was a tactical risk, though. When Micheal failed to get inside Casa was able to nail him; steal rounds and maybe even hurt Katsidis. Now, I agree, also that the momentum was going towards the younger man. Casamayor was having the fight slowly stolen over the rounds preceding the stoppage. Katsidis was coming on. But skill is not what has carried him this far. They knew his best defense was a steady offense; keep the leather on old man Casamayor, keep him backing up- and take the rounds or KO the old bugger. The corner was trying to help Katsidis seal the fight, I believe...but Micheal was too green to use effective aggresion, threw a wide shot- paid for it- and watched his chance at victory fly away.

I'm trying to put myself in the corner of Micheal Katsidis. I'm seeing what his best real estate is- inside. Micheal wasn't a skilled boxer who worked off a jab so fighting on the outside was allowing Casamayor, the faster, sharper puncher, to tee-off. I'm watching my guy get dropped, hurt by shots when he fails to get in; then I see the momentum turn. Katsidis drops Casamayor- nearly knocks him out....but the fight isn't done. We're in there with a crafty,skilled veteran who has proven he still carries enough venom to kill us. If I'm in that corner my guy has one blaring weakness above all else; defense. He lacks the ability to stay at a safe distance and not get nailed. Casamayor could still steal it on the cards or knock our boy out. If he gets inside and gets lazy it could also be dangerous- so what do I do? I tell Katsidis to stay on him. Keep the hands moving. Back him up. Do enough to keep Casamayor from mounting his own offense. We're a few rounds away from winning...but as our guy has poor defense we need to make sure he uses his only chance- offense as defense. "Stay on him! Pick it up!" I yell.

Now, in retrospect, Micheal Katsidis can feel the championship; it's almost close enough to touch- it's his. He's fought hard, knocked Casamayor down..almost finished it...and now all he has to do is stay on him. In his youth and excitement he begins lunging in; his idea of staying aggresive and active like his corner told him. If I'm in Micheal's corner I'm mortified by what I see- and then that one wide shot, the share punch from Casamayor...and the end of our night.

But, really, what was the corner to do? They knew Katsidis's best shot was to stay active against the older man....too bad they didn't realize he'd do so in such a sloppy manner.

I largely blame Katsidis, not the corner, but feel he can still come back from this.

Good posts. That was what I was trying to say.

[BennyST]

Something to keep in mind Benny , Katsidis is a maniac , have you seen his early fights in Aus , wild aggression destroy destruct ,,, that is his character not his style , its who he is , Brendon trys to keep him calm and controlled , he may not have said body specificaly , but he did say keep doing what your doing but we want you lift a little more , now dont go crazy ,,,, that was going into the 10th , if Rocky had of followed instead of wild KO attempts like it was the last round he probably wins the fight , Brenden has been with him from the start and they have a good relationship ,,, what Im trying to say is its hard to contain a Pitbull in the middle of a fight ,,, its unfair to blame the corner for the loss as Rocky reverted to what he is by instinct and that was his mistake and he himself knows it , its easy to sit on the outside after the fact and say what should have been said , its very different under the lights .

In some respect I agree completely mate. But, I strongly believe that had they seen what I thought was very obvious to see, under pressure or not, that Katsidis should have won. The big thing in this fight was the body shots. That is what hurt Casa and put him down. The other big thing was Casa's counter of Kats' right hand. The least the corner should have said was to "Stop throwing the right hand, you're getting countered too much, we don't need the risk. Go back to the body, it's that punch that's hurting him. You'll win it with the body shots."

See, no matter which way you look at it, the corner is there to see what the fighter themselves cannot see under pressure and to tell them what to do. Katsidis' corner gave him some very bad advice...actually they didn't really give him much advice at all. Telling him to keep it up or pick it up, keep doing what you're doing is not going to get it done. More than any other fight he needed to be told what to do exactly!

If you were in the corner of Katsidis and you saw what was happening it should have been very obvious what to say to him. He had been decked with a counter left twice and was getting hit with it throughout the fight. That there should have put on some big warning bells ringing. They should have said straight up "Don't throw the right hand!" It just wasn't working for him. What was very obviously working was the left hook to the head and the body shots. I just can't help but be a little shocked and very disappointed with his corner. I believe it was that obvious and they could have kept him in the fight quite easily with just a little specific advice. There was too much generalising and it wasn't working.

What I found frustrating was the second last round Katsidis got a bit wild but the corner didn't tell him to do anything different! That was the big thing which got to me. It was so obvious what he needed to go back to doing. The corner had to have seen this and they didn't say anything. To tell him to keep it up and keep doing what you're doing was some of the worst advice I've heard in a fight this big in a long, long time. It lost him the fight when there was a few simple things he could have done to keep him winning. The least of which was to stop with the wild head shots. If anything, that should have been said to him..."For god's sake mate, take it easy with the head shots. Relax and go back to the body." That is all they needed to say because it was obvious the head shots weren't working.

Did you think it could have been done better Rod? Did you honestly believe they gave him the right advice? I can definitely understand them having been with Katsidis his entire career but sometimes there comes a point that something needs to be changed. Maybe it isn't his corner....? I don't know, but I think some things could have been done much, much better than they were!

[Addison]

That's it right there mate! His ****ing corner truly lost him the fight. All the corner should have been telling him to do was "keep your hands high and when you get in close **** to the body and you'll have 'im!"

I just don't think they have the ability to lead him against the big boys. He needs a new trainer badly as I started thinking in his last fight against Amonsot. They never actually give him any specific advice, it's all just "C,mon mate, you gotta pick it up now." or "You're doing great mate, just more of the same, more of the same!" What the **** is that all about? He needed to be told to relax, that he had the fight in the bag and he could of had it won if he just took it easy kept his hands, threw more left hooks as Casa was expecting the right hand, and went to the body more than anything.

That's all they needed to tell him to do and he would of had it! God damn, I was so depressed when that happened! Still am. He was deserving of that title and his corner ****ed it up.

Gracias, Benny. I'm in full agreement. ^ Good post.

Casamayor way too good for Katsidis. That old man is a crafty mongoose.

Pfftt.. HaHA.. OK.

Santa Cruz proved he was way to good for Casamayor.

[RodBarker]

In some respect I agree completely mate. But, I strongly believe that had they seen what I thought was very obvious to see, under pressure or not, that Katsidis should have won. The big thing in this fight was the body shots. That is what hurt Casa and put him down. The other big thing was Casa's counter of Kats' right hand. The least the corner should have said was to "Stop throwing the right hand, you're getting countered too much, we don't need the risk. Go back to the body, it's that punch that's hurting him. You'll win it with the body shots."

See, no matter which way you look at it, the corner is there to see what the fighter themselves cannot see under pressure and to tell them what to do. Katsidis' corner gave him some very bad advice...actually they didn't really give him much advice at all. Telling him to keep it up or pick it up, keep doing what you're doing is not going to get it done. More than any other fight he is needed to be told what to do exactly!

If you were in the corner of Katsidis and you saw what was happening it should have been very obvious what to say to him. He had been decked with a counter left twice and was getting hit with it throughout the fight. That there should have put on some big warning bells ringing. They should have said straight up "Don't throw the right hand!" It just wasn't working for him. What was very obviously working was the left hook to the head and the body shots. I just can't help but be a little shocked and very disappointed with his corner. I believe it was that obvious and they could have kept him in the fight quite easily with just a little specific advice. There was too much generalising and it wasn't working.

What I found frustrating was the second last round Katsidis got a bit wild but the corner didn't tell him to do anything different! That was the big thing which got to me. It was so obvious what he needed to go back to doing. The corner had to have seen this and they didn't say anything. To tell him to keep it up and keep doing what you're doing was some of the worst advice I've heard in a fight this big in a long, long time. It lost him the fight when there was a few simple things he could have done to keep him winning. The least of which was to stop with the wild head shots. If anything, that should have been said to him..."For god's sake mate, take it easy with the head shots. Relax and go back to the body." That is all they needed to say because it was obvious the head shots weren't working.

Did you think it could have been done better Rod? Did you honestly believe they gave him the right advice? I can definitely understand them having been with Katsidis his entire career but sometimes there comes a point that something needs to be changed. Maybe it isn't his corner....? I don't know, but I think some things could have been done much, much better than they were!

Off course mate , I just know its a young team and fighter especially at this level , even the best corners in the world dont say stuff that seems obvious sometimes , In not disagreeing with you I just think they will learn from it as a team , sometimes its better to fix the one you know than take on a new bag full of new stuff that can bring other problems , I couldnt say sack the trainer without being a lot closer to them , is the man a dilby or astute , is he ego or he can see his mistakes and learn from them .

The worst corner of the night was Dibbs and his two backslappers , and you have Mosley behind them ,,, if I was Mosely Id piss him off , Dibbs is a great gym fighter but has no substance in real fights , his corner was useless .

[BennyST]

Gracias, Benny. I'm in full agreement. ^ Good post.

Cheers. Here's to hoping we can see a rematch! I'm really looking forward to seeing who Kats' comeback fight will be against and whether he can come back even better.

Off course mate , I just know its a young team and fighter especially at this level , even the best corners in the world dont say stuff that seems obvious sometimes , In not disagreeing with you I just think they will learn from it as a team , sometimes its better to fix the one you know than take on a new bag full of new stuff that can bring other problems , I couldnt say sack the trainer without being a lot closer to them , is the man a dilby or astute , is he ego or he can see his mistakes and learn from them .

The worst corner of the night was Dibbs and his two backslappers , and you have Mosley behind them ,,, if I was Mosely Id piss him off , Dibbs is a great gym fighter but has no substance in real fights , his corner was useless .

Urgh, Dib was very disappointing. A lack-lustre performance to say the least. If he wants to get a big shot he will need to do a whole lot better than that. It was way too close and he should have had it quite easily. We'll see where he goes to from here, but, I have a feeling he may turn out to be another overly confident try-hard poseur who gets shown up ala Barrera/Hamed. Running around with your hands down when you need to be actually fighting is not the way to go when you're just trying to move up the ranks.

Yes, I can dig that they are both just young (fighter and team) but sometimes I think maybe the team needs to forget his ego and the possibility of money and say to him "I just don't have what you need. Maybe it's time to find someone better." If it's the team losing him the fight, and I'm not saying it's only the team but it was a very big part of it, and when it's for the world lightweight title that type of inexperience should not have to cost him the fight. It's sad, but maybe that is what needs to happen....?

I'm not sure, and I'm certainly not someone to be going on about it, but I just thought it was too obvious to overlook. A corner needs to be giving the right advice and seeing what the fighter cannot and unfortunately if they themselves are too inexperienced to do it then maybe they need to either find someone better as a second or he just needs to find a new team.

If it was a fight on a smaller scale it wouldn't be so bad but when it is for the ring and recognised lightweight title it's too big to be making such amateur mistakes and not seeing the most obvious things when it will lose the fight. I remember just screaming at the TV when he came out after beating up Casa and then suddenly going back to just headhunting! The first thing that all of us saw was that his corner wasn't saying what to everyone was so obvious. It had all of us in fits! Then he came out and did it for another round and it was over! Just awful.....

Anyway, we'll see what happens and where he goes from here. I desperately hope he can learn from this and come back even better and much smarter. They all need to recognise their mistakes...Kats' lack of defense and head movement and his corners lack of proper advice.