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The subject of this thread is; Mike Katsidis, has his contribution to this sport in the last few years deserved better than he's received and does he have glory nights still to come?
The bold was certainly true on Saturday night. Let's talk about that f*ggot referee, who sickens me.
1.) He didn't call a valid knockdown after Guerrero's glove clearly touched down on a Katsidis left hook in the 2nd round.
2.) The point deductions in the 8th. Before we even get to the purpose they were concealing, let it be said that they were a disgrace. And here's why; (a) there was no warning issued (except "get 'em up", in response to blows that were ON Guerrero's HIGH beltline) (b) the first shot to the cup was the last of a bunch of mostly legal punches which eventually produced a low blow as a result of how Guerrero's body became positioned during the storm (doubled over, taking away the midsection Mike was trying to hit) and (c) the second shot to the cup was clearly unintentional. Then he let another Katsidis low blow slide after and needlessly took one off Guerrero to cover the fix, because he knew su****ion would be upon him.
Bringing us to the purpose behind the deductions, which was to halt the action and give Guerrero two breathers of 25-30 seconds each, right when Katsidis was doing some of his most debilitating work in the fight, battering Guerrero's body; Mora saw Katsidis making progress at that moment, saw that it was having an effect and found an excuse to break Mike's momentum. That's not to say Mike would have won, but what's plain as day is plain as day.
Guerrero already had the size and style advantages and was the fresher of the two fighters without being under-experienced; it's not as if he needed any other factors in his favor. But the scumbag, Mora, was clearly paid off to protect the more valued of the two Golden Boy fighters, the star they're trying to build, for whom Katsidis was intended to be cannon-fodder.
Onto some thoughts on Katsidis' position in the sport.
For the blood, sweat and tears Mike's given boxing, it's a tragedy, not so much that he hasn't yet been fairly rewarded in earnings or adulation, but more because it seems like he may never be. It's disturbing to see him fight tough against an elite for a fraction of the money that a show-pony dumbo who nobody cares about (and who nobody should care about) like Berto receives for fighting a fringe guy on the same card. The building of some kind of cult fanbase among casuals would help. He's frequently likened to Gatti as a fighter, hardcore boxing fans know and mostly appreciate him, some of us love him, but he lacks that extra following.
My question is, can he get it? Does he have the fights left in him to make that kind of impression? Or at least leave a defining winning impression in the sport before he leaves it?
Looking beyond the fact that he's a fighter based outside the US (an Aussie, no less) fighting most of his quality fights in the US against mostly US/Mexico based fighters, which may be the biggest obstacle to winning a solid cult audience, let's look at what he's done and what's missing.
While he has his rough equivalent to Gatti's valiant losses against A guys on his record (Casa and Marquez are sort of his Mayweather and De La Hoya) and his rough equivalent to Gatti's alternately gutty and underachieving defeats to quality guys beneath that A calibre (Guerrero is kind of his Ivan Robinson in the former category, while Diaz is maybe his Manfredy in the latter), he doesn't have Gatti's spectacular KO wins from the brink of seemingly great peril against guys on the next level down; the momentum was pretty much always with him in his fights with Earl and Mitchell and, while troubled by nightmare cuts, it was Mike who brought the power and the knockdowns in the Amonsot fight, but was unable to score the KO against the tough Filipino (the crowd for that undercard was disgustingly uninterested in the incredible effort of those guys, anyway, IIRC). What I'm saying is, he doesn't have his Rodriguez or Ruelas.
And also, he hasn't yet found a nemesis to share a series with, his Micky Ward.
Of course, he doesn't hit as hard as Gatti, but he hits substantially enough to create excitement, cause impressive knockdowns, etc. He doesn't lack power in a way that holds him back from turning people on.
You don't have to take the Gatti comparison too seriously; in fact, feel free to disregard it. I've just played with it and stretched it for fun because it's been repeated so often by talking-heads in the boxing media. Form your own conclusions to the questions based on how you think things will play out from now on in Mike's career.
-Has he already had his defining moments (his brave defeats to Casa and Marquez, plus solid wins over Mitchell, Chavez, Amonsot, Escobedo, Earl)?
-Or will he yet find them in the creativity of some inspired matchmaker and maybe even win some level of renown or acclaim beyond the appreciation club who praise his name within the society of hardcore boxing fans?
-Or will he keep taking shots at guys who are just that bit too good until he isn't getting those fights anymore and ends up falling to his Alfonso Gomez, minus the sense of ceremony of a Legend bowing out that accompanied Gatti's final fight and exit? And will it really only be some hardcore boxing junkies who will honor his symbolic passing and remember him fondly long after Brendan prises Mike's gloves from his still-clenched fists and hangs them up?
Thoughts, please.
The bold was certainly true on Saturday night. Let's talk about that f*ggot referee, who sickens me.
1.) He didn't call a valid knockdown after Guerrero's glove clearly touched down on a Katsidis left hook in the 2nd round.
2.) The point deductions in the 8th. Before we even get to the purpose they were concealing, let it be said that they were a disgrace. And here's why; (a) there was no warning issued (except "get 'em up", in response to blows that were ON Guerrero's HIGH beltline) (b) the first shot to the cup was the last of a bunch of mostly legal punches which eventually produced a low blow as a result of how Guerrero's body became positioned during the storm (doubled over, taking away the midsection Mike was trying to hit) and (c) the second shot to the cup was clearly unintentional. Then he let another Katsidis low blow slide after and needlessly took one off Guerrero to cover the fix, because he knew su****ion would be upon him.
Bringing us to the purpose behind the deductions, which was to halt the action and give Guerrero two breathers of 25-30 seconds each, right when Katsidis was doing some of his most debilitating work in the fight, battering Guerrero's body; Mora saw Katsidis making progress at that moment, saw that it was having an effect and found an excuse to break Mike's momentum. That's not to say Mike would have won, but what's plain as day is plain as day.
Guerrero already had the size and style advantages and was the fresher of the two fighters without being under-experienced; it's not as if he needed any other factors in his favor. But the scumbag, Mora, was clearly paid off to protect the more valued of the two Golden Boy fighters, the star they're trying to build, for whom Katsidis was intended to be cannon-fodder.
Onto some thoughts on Katsidis' position in the sport.
For the blood, sweat and tears Mike's given boxing, it's a tragedy, not so much that he hasn't yet been fairly rewarded in earnings or adulation, but more because it seems like he may never be. It's disturbing to see him fight tough against an elite for a fraction of the money that a show-pony dumbo who nobody cares about (and who nobody should care about) like Berto receives for fighting a fringe guy on the same card. The building of some kind of cult fanbase among casuals would help. He's frequently likened to Gatti as a fighter, hardcore boxing fans know and mostly appreciate him, some of us love him, but he lacks that extra following.
My question is, can he get it? Does he have the fights left in him to make that kind of impression? Or at least leave a defining winning impression in the sport before he leaves it?
Looking beyond the fact that he's a fighter based outside the US (an Aussie, no less) fighting most of his quality fights in the US against mostly US/Mexico based fighters, which may be the biggest obstacle to winning a solid cult audience, let's look at what he's done and what's missing.
While he has his rough equivalent to Gatti's valiant losses against A guys on his record (Casa and Marquez are sort of his Mayweather and De La Hoya) and his rough equivalent to Gatti's alternately gutty and underachieving defeats to quality guys beneath that A calibre (Guerrero is kind of his Ivan Robinson in the former category, while Diaz is maybe his Manfredy in the latter), he doesn't have Gatti's spectacular KO wins from the brink of seemingly great peril against guys on the next level down; the momentum was pretty much always with him in his fights with Earl and Mitchell and, while troubled by nightmare cuts, it was Mike who brought the power and the knockdowns in the Amonsot fight, but was unable to score the KO against the tough Filipino (the crowd for that undercard was disgustingly uninterested in the incredible effort of those guys, anyway, IIRC). What I'm saying is, he doesn't have his Rodriguez or Ruelas.
And also, he hasn't yet found a nemesis to share a series with, his Micky Ward.
Of course, he doesn't hit as hard as Gatti, but he hits substantially enough to create excitement, cause impressive knockdowns, etc. He doesn't lack power in a way that holds him back from turning people on.
You don't have to take the Gatti comparison too seriously; in fact, feel free to disregard it. I've just played with it and stretched it for fun because it's been repeated so often by talking-heads in the boxing media. Form your own conclusions to the questions based on how you think things will play out from now on in Mike's career.
-Has he already had his defining moments (his brave defeats to Casa and Marquez, plus solid wins over Mitchell, Chavez, Amonsot, Escobedo, Earl)?
-Or will he yet find them in the creativity of some inspired matchmaker and maybe even win some level of renown or acclaim beyond the appreciation club who praise his name within the society of hardcore boxing fans?
-Or will he keep taking shots at guys who are just that bit too good until he isn't getting those fights anymore and ends up falling to his Alfonso Gomez, minus the sense of ceremony of a Legend bowing out that accompanied Gatti's final fight and exit? And will it really only be some hardcore boxing junkies who will honor his symbolic passing and remember him fondly long after Brendan prises Mike's gloves from his still-clenched fists and hangs them up?
Thoughts, please.
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