By Jim Dower: For what it’s worth, World Boxing Organization interim lightweight champion Michael Katsidis (26-2, 21 KO’s) wants a shot against former WBA super middleweight champion Anthony Mundine (38-3, 23 KO’s). This must be an Australian thing, because although the 29-year-old Katsidis is a tough fighter and powerful for a lightweight, he would seem to be way too small to beat a fighter the size of Mundine.
There are four divisions that separate Katsidis from Mundine, who now fights as a middleweight. And beyond that, the 5’11” Mundine would have a four inch height and a four inch reach advantage to go along with his 25 pound weight advantage. That would be asking a bit too much of Katsidis to pump up to a high enough weight to fight Mundine. And it would be hard to imagine Mundine moving down far enough in weight to give Katsidis enough of a handicap to make it interesting.
Katsidis has reportedly sparred with Mundine in the past, and likely has a good idea of how he would match up with him if they were to fight. However, sparring and fighting are two different things. Mundine has a powerful right hand and he’d be trouble for the smallish Katsidis if they were to step in the ring and fight for real. Katsidis takes a lot of punishment in his fights, and was stopped by Joel Casamayor in 2008, and outpointed by Juan Diaz in 12 round decision loss in September 2008.
Katsidis has changed his style somewhat since the Diaz loss, focusing a little bit more on his defense, but he’s still very hittable in his fights. And Katsidis’ tendency to cut easily would be a problem against a big puncher like Mundine. It would be only a matter of time before Mundine had Katsidis’ face looking like a bloody mess from his big shots. At the same time, Mundine isn’t easy to hit. He retreats when his opponents come after him, and is quite good at fighting while going backwards. This fight could turn out very bad for Katsidis.
Mundine has never lost to an Australian before during his career 10-year pro career. Yesterday, Mundine, 34, defeated fellow Australian Robert Medley by a 12 round decision in Sydney. Some boxing fans are wondering why Mundine is wasting time fighting overmatched Australians when he should be focusing on facing top world class opponents. It’s been four years since Mundine fought his last 1st tier opponent Danny Green. Since beating Green by a 12 round decision, Mundine has focusing on softer opponents for the most part.
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