By Eric Thomas: Lightweight fringe contender Michael Katsidis’s luck has been bad recently with losses to Juan Manuel Marquez and Roberto Guerrero in his last two fights. Katsidis is taking on a soft 2nd tier opponent Michael Lozada (38-8-1, 30 KO’s) next month at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia.

Katsidis should easily win this fight, and once he gets by Lozada, Katsidis will likely be the next opponent for WBA World lightweight champion Brandon Rios (28-0-1, 21 KO’s). Normally, fighters that have been beaten as bad as Katsidis has aren’t considered for shots against champions. However, Bob Arum, the promoter for Rios, likes the idea of putting Katsidis in with Rios.

Obviously, it’s because Rios is still an unknown fighter with the casual boxing public in the United States, whereas Katsidis is a little more known and better known around the world. In effect, Katisidis will be used for his name value alone rather than for what he’s done lately in the ring. If I was Katsidis, I’d say no to the Rios fight because it’s not a good match up for Katsidis. He’s better off going after one of the WBC belt with Humberto Soto moving up in weight rather than taking a fight against Rios and serving as a name.

Katsidis deserves better than that, and unless they were going to give him huge money to take the Rios fight, which I seriously doubt, I don’t think it’s a very smart move for Katsidis. He’s better off facing Kevin Mitchell in a rematch. Mitchell wants the rematch and it’s a winnable fight for Katsidis. I’d take that fight in a heartbeat over a fight against Rios where he’s serving as a tool to make Rios more popular.