By Jim Dower: Former lightweight contender Michael Katsidis (28-5, 23 KO’s) will be back in the ring tonight against a fighter named Albert Mensah (24-3-1, 10 KO’s) in a bout that’s scheduled for 10 rounds and will be televised by ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This would seem to be a step backwards for the 31-year-old Katsidis, as Friday Night Fights are often filled with prospects and/or over the hill fighters. Going from being on HBO televised bouts to ESPN2 has to be seen as a big downward step for Katsidis. But he’s lost three out of his last four fights and is no longer ranked in the top 15 by the lightweight division. Things aren’t exactly going swimmingly for Katsidis at this point in his career.

Katsidis will be taking a calculated risk by moving up in weight to 140 for the Mensah fight. It doesn’t make a lot of sense unless it’s for only one fight. Katsidis doesn’t have the size to fight at 140, and at that weight it would be difficult to picture him even as a gatekeeper type fighter. If anything, Katsidis should be thinking of moving down to super featherweight rather than moving up in weight. Mensah has a three inch height advantage over Katsidis to go along with a substantial reach advantage as well. Who knows how much heavier Mensah will be on Friday night, but even if he isn’t heavier in weight, Mensah is simply a bigger fighter than Katsidis.

The power advantage probably goes to Katsidis due to his excellent left hand. However, if the taller Mensah is able to land more of his shots due to his longer reach and height, it cancels out any of the advantages that Katsidis has in the fight. But what gives Mensah a bigger plus in the fight is he’s got tougher skin than Katsidis. If you look as Katsidis’ skin problems in many of his fights, he tends to swell up and cut and bruise early in his fights. Mensah could bring that out in Katsidis if this fight goes the distance. Katsidis will take punishment and his skin will likely get cut up, making this fight a lot harder than it might be.

It’s hard to know why Katsidis chose to take on a fighter as tough and as large as Mensah in his first fight at 140. That seems like a really dumb move. It’s brave, yes, but it kind of seems like a stupid idea because there are too many chances for something to go wrong for Katsidis. It’s almost like he’s begging to be beaten again. Mensah isn’t the type of fighter that you take on when you’ve lost three out of your last four fights like Katsidis has.