Katsidis wants title shot against Vazquez

By Dan Ambrose: The struggling Michael Katsidis (27-4, 22 KO’s) is reportedly interested in taking on IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez (28-3, 12 KO’s) next in a fight that Katsidis is hoping will take place in his native Australia. It’s not exactly a good match-up for the pressure fighter Katsidis, as Vazquez is a pure boxer and likes to move a lot and make his opponents miss with his shots.

Katsidis has lost his last two fights to Juan Manuel Marquez and Roberto Guerrero. Neither fight was particularly close. It was thought that Katisidis would opt for an easy fight when he said recently he wanted to fight his next bout in Australia rather than the U.S. However, Vazquez is far from an easy fight, and in some ways, he’s even more of a problem for Katsidis than his last opponent Guerrero. Vazquez hasn’t lost a fight in three years since he was beaten by the hard hitting welterweight Saul Alvarez by a 10 round decision in 2008.

Vazquez was also beaten by Timothy Bradley by a 10 round decision in 2007. The other loss on Vazquez’s resume came in his first fight with Alvarez in 2006. It was asking a lot of the light hitting Vazquez to be in the ring with a much bigger puncher like Alvarez. Katsidis can hit hard, but he’s not heavy handed like Alvarez and doesn’t have much of a right hand. He’ll have problems if he gets in with a slick fighter like Vazquez unless Katsidis looks better than he did in his last two bouts. Vazquez is coming off of an impressive lopsided 12 round unanimous over previously unbeaten Leonardo Zappavigna in March. Vazquez made a very good fighter look amateurish in that fight and easily won.