Michael Katsides KO5 Graham Earl
Posted by: Evan YoungPosted on: February, 2007
I picked Katsides in this one and he really came to fight. Earl is a tough guy but I liked Katsides because he is not only a serious puncher but a skilled fighter that was on a mission of destruction. I felt Earl didn’t have the firepower to keep the nasty Aussie off of him and that was the case. Earl opened as slight favorite but smart money went the way of Aussie Katsidis propelling him to nearly a 2-1 favorite by the first bell.
The intensity and struggle of this battle has many people buzzing on how tremendous this fight was. It was one for the ages. Earl was dropped twice in the opening round and almost didn’t make it through. These guys continued to wage war and Katsides was even dropped for a count of one in the 3rd round but he got up and quickly resumed his hiding of Earl. I believe in the 3rd round Earl's corner threw in the towel but the ref threw it back and refused to call the fight. But after that moment Earl had some success before Katsides took over once and for all. After 5 rounds Earl’s corner mercifully stopped fight.
With the win Katsides was coronated the interim WBO lightweight champion. I think this is a guy that can be a serious factor in the lightweight division. He’ll make good fights with any of the other title holders. He trained in
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