Robert Guerrero defeats Michael Katsidis

Although the main event of “Action Heroes” was the Marcos Maidana v Erik Morales fight, many in the business tipped the Robert Guerrero v Michael Katsidis fight to really steal the show. Katsidis was regularly in entertaining fights and no matter the outcome he came to fight, he was a powerful puncher who could excite fight fans no matter what. With Katisids being an aggressive swarmer Guerrero, nicknamed “The Ghost” was the distinct opposite, he was a slick boxer who could land and not be hit, a relatively pure boxer. The fight promised to be a collision of styles, could Katisids drag Guerrero into a battle or was Guerrero going to be too elusive for the Australian? Who would walk away the winner and the new WBA and WBO interim Lightweight champion?

After the unexpectedly quick loss for James Kirkland against Japanese fighter Nobuhiro Ishida we were ready to go. Katsidis sounded ready to go well before the fight got going calling out “What you looking at?” towards his opponent before the fight started. Guerrero claimed the centre of the ring whilst Katsidis fought from the outside coming in for the occasional salvo. Guerrero was timing Katsidis as the Australian came in and landed hard clean blows with ease to take the opening round. Boxing from the southpaw stance Guerrero seemed to start the 2^nd round as he fought the opening round, landing a crisp right hand jab. Katsidis managed to turn the fight someone in the 2^nd dropping Guerrero (though the referee didn't count it rather stupidly). Guerrero got up instantly and the 2^nd round ended with the fighters trading for the first time with both men landing nice shots. Although Guerrero was still looking the better boxer Katsidis now knew he could hurt his opponent. Guerrero appeared to to have regained his composure (which for a moment seemed to have gone in the 2^nd) and controlled Katsidis through out the 3^rd round landing at will.

Katsidis seemed to be more persistent to start the 4^th, he was continually coming forward and although he was eating everything Guerrero threw he was slowly edging himself into range. Katsidis had taken the centre of the ring and landed several notable power shots. Guerrero won the round, though Katsidis wasn't done and seemed happy to take shots to land his own shots. Guerreo was still landing clean through the 5^th and caught Katsidis off balance, wobbling him badly. Guerrero went in for the kill though Katsidis' teak toughness saw him see off the assault of Guerrero. The round was a huge one for Guerrero and could easily have been scored a 10-8.

Katsidis was well behind on the scorecards and had just taken a battering through the 5^th round and now he needed to prove he had something to offer. Although Katsidis did show he was still there to fight Guerrero again dominated the round, his hand speed and accurate shots kept Katsidis at bay through out the round. Although Guerrero had taken his foot off the peddle he still controlled the Australian. Katsidis perhaps needed a big 7^th round just to keep some interest and he seemed be landing more shots whilst Guerrero seemed to be slowing down somewhat. Guerrero would again take the round though you couldn't help but feel that Katsidis believed he had an equaliser. With Katsidis' face marking up badly, he needed a new idea and the 8^th saw him going to the body. Early in the round Katsidis landed a low blow and got a point deducted, it was more obvious than ever that he was going to be needing a knock out to win. The body attack persisted despite the point deduction then a 2^nd point was deducted. It had been Katsidis' best round yet he still managed to lose it 9-8 due to the point deductions which were both atrociously harsh. Despite the deductions Katsidis continued to dig to the body and probably got away with several low blows and flirted with a disqualification.

Katsidis had had a huge 8^th round though the worry was that he had blown his load, much like David Lemieux had the night before against Marco Antonio Rubio. The body attack, although limited, seemed to be the basis of Katsidis' offense in the 9^th though Guerrero looked to have been back in charge and took the round like he had in many of the previous ones. Though this time Guerrero had had a point deducted for low blows, the 4^th bad call by Mora in the fight. Katsidis was starting to look wider and wilder than usual, he was swinging in reckless wide shots in desperation looking to land his equaliser but Guerrero was eluding them with ease. Katsidis seemed to shake up Guerrero late in the round though pushed Guerrero away in frustration after being clinched.

Going into the final 2 rounds I had Katsidis 4 points behind (Jim Watt for Sky had it by 8 points) having scored the 2^nd a 10-8 (Katsidis) and the 8^th round a 9-8 (Guerrero). Guerrero controlled the 11^th round with his straight shots as he had done through much of the fight. Katsidis was still looking to land the KO blow though it was never looking likely to happen. Despite Katsidis' face looking very swollen Guerrero was also showing the scars of battle around his eyes. Going into the last round it was starting to look like a wide decision win for Guerrero, who started to snap back Katsidis' head with his shots. A right hand in the final minute by Katsidis wobbled Guerrero and showed that he was still in there looking for the win. Guerrero held on though and seemed to have comfortably won the fight. Katsidis proved his toughness, though had his flaws shown up time and time again.

The official scorecards read:

117-108

118-106

118-107

(I had it 116-110, having scored the the 2^nd round 10-8 to Katsidis, the 8^th 9-8 to Guerrero, the 9^th as a 9-9 and the 10^th as a 10-10).

Although the decisions of Russell Mora, the referee didn't make a great deal of difference to the result he made several notable calls that baffled me and the Sky Sports commentary team amongst others. Someone really needs to take a close look at him after this fight.