By Dan Ambrose: WBA/WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (52-5-1, 38 KO’s) dispatched Australian WBO lightweight interim champion Michael Katsidis (27-3, 22 KO’s) in the 9th round with a flurry of shots last Saturday night to successfully defend his titles at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Marquez, 37, hurt Katsidis with a powerful right uppercut in the 9th and then followed it up with a series of combinations that further hurt Katsidis, opening up a big cut over his left eye and causing referee Kenny Bayless to step in and halt the fight at 2:14 of the round with Katsidis still on his feet.
Bayless could have allowed the fight to continue, but Katsidis was hurt and there was little chance that he was going to make it out of the round. Marquez appeared to be taking it easy on Katsidis and wasn’t rushing in to try and take him out with a furious storm of shots.
The win was more than good enough for Marquez to stake a case that he deserves a shot against WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao. Marquez looked sensational throughout the fight. If that’s not good enough for Pacquiao or his promoter Bob Arum, then you have to wonder whether Marquez is being ducked because of how many problems he gave Pacquiao during their previous two fights.
Marquez had an early scare in the fight when he was dropped in the 3rd round by a perfectly timed left hook from Katsidis that put Marquez down flat on his bad and badly hurt him. Marquez got back to his feet and was able to survive the round despite getting hurt further with some big shots. Katsidis blew his chance by not really jumping on Marquez with some big power shots. It may be that Katsidis was afraid of catching one of Marquez’s big shots and thought better of trying to take him out. Whatever the case, Katsidis should have made the most of his opportunity by unloading on Marquez with everything he had.
Marquez fought well in the 4th round, showing no signs of having been previously hurt as he used his jab and left hooks effectively to pick off Katsidis as he attempted to pressure him. Katsidis kept coming forward constantly, but Marquez met him with shots much of the time. Katsidis was cut on the side of his right eye in the round.
In the 5th round, Katsidis and Marquez stood toe-to-toe in close, trading shots for most of the round with upper cuts. Marquez had his back to the ropes but was still able to fight effectively. It was a close round until late in the round when Marquez suddenly starting throwing sustained combinations, catching Katsidis in the head over and over again.
The 6th and 7th rounds were close. Marquez showed signs of tiring and spent more time against the ropes and rarely fought in the center of the ring. However, Marquez was still far too good for Katsidis to win the rounds. Marquez’s accuracy with his shots was uncanny. He rarely missed and nailed Katsidis cleanly often. However, Katsidis’ constant pressure caused Marquez to fight harder than he wanted to.
Marquez looked good in the 8th round, throwing combinations and catching Katsidis as he pressured. Katsidis’ right eye was swelling up badly by this time in the fight and he was starting to show signs of fading.
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