By Dan Ambrose: WBC lightweight champion Antonio DeMarco (26-2-1, 19 KO’s) could be defending his World Boxing Council title against contender Michael Katsidis (28-5, 23 KO’s) on the Bernard Hopkins vs. Chad Dawson undercard on April 28th at Atlantic City, New Jersey, says Dan Rafael.

The fight, if it makes on the Hopkins-Dawson card, will be aired on HBO and it will give DeMarco and the 31-year-old Katsidis some good visibility. I’m just not so sure about Katsidis at this weight. He didn’t look his best in fighting former WBO super featherweight champion Ricky Burns last November in a fight for the interim World Boxing Organization lightweight title and it might be better off if Katsidis moves up in weight to 140lbs like he’s been talking about doing.

He got pulled back down for the Burns payday fight but I don’t think it’s a good idea for Katsidis to take the fight with DeMarco if it’s going to mean that Katsidis will come in weak. He’s three out of his last four fights, albeit against good opposition. Katsidis did land a lot of shots against Burns, but his power wasn’t there against a guy that doesn’t have power himself. You know things are bad when a non-puncher like Burns is landing the harder shots against Katsidis. This tells you that Katsidis needs to move up in weight as soon as possible.

DeMarco recently survived a war with Jorge Linares to capture the vacant WBC lightweight title last October. DeMarco took an awful lot of punishment in the first 10 rounds but then came on to get a stoppage over a cut up Linares in the 11th. It’s great that DeMarco got the win but I can’t see him holding onto this title for any length of time.

I just don’t know of Katsidis has enough left to be the one to take it from him, especially if Katsidis comes in weight drained. It’s a good fight for Golden Boy Promotions because the chances are high that DeMarco will retain his title. However, he’s not going to keep it for very much longer if he has to face his No.1 challenger Yuriorkis Gamboa. As soon as that fight happens, the title will be transferred over to Gamboa by a knockout win. But not fighting Gamboa is smart thing for DeMarco to do. I think he would also have problems in a rematch with Linares.