By Eric Thomas: Australian Michael “The Great” Katsidis (28-6, 23 KO’s) is reportedly thinking of coming back for a farewell bout to finish his career off on a positive note instead of the controversial defeat he suffered last year in April against Albert Mensah.
The 32-year-old Katsidis hasn’t fought since then. He says he’s been cleared to fight, and is thinking about lining up one last bout for his fans.
Katsidis said in an interview with The Chronicle “I’m clear to fight. My health is a number one priority…I want to fight again and go out on my terms. This is where I want to have my send-off…but having a send-off now in Toowoomba at my final fight is important to me.”
If Katsidis has been cleared to fight then why not take a final fight. The concern here obviously is to make sure that Katsidis doesn’t take on somebody too tough for his fight, as he’s been out of the ring for over a year now, and he’s likely to be very rusty once he does come back.
If Katsidis faces someone too good, it might ruin his farewell fight by him losing. As it is, Katsidis has lost four out of his last five fights in a short period of time from 2010 to 2012. However, the losses were mostly against quality fighters. I thought Katsidis didn’t deserve the loss to Mensah, but Katsidis was clearly beaten in his other recent losses against Robert Guerrero, Ricky Burns and Juan Manuel Marquez.
Katsidis had some important fights in his career against Juan Diaz, Graham Earl, Joel Casmayor, Kevin Mitchell, Czar Amonsot in addition to his fights against Marquez, Burns and Guerrero. Perhaps if Katsidis had more power in his right hand and better defensive skills, he would have been a sure thing champion at lightweight.
At 135, Katsidis was the perfect pressure fighter for that weight class. He just needed more balance on his offense, and better defense to get to have taken his career to the next level.
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