Realistically, how good is Katsidis?

[states]

A very good underrated fighter. He's been beaten by a couple of the top boys, but he's probably improved a lot since - bear in mind, the best he'd met before was thrown in with one of the world's elite Casamayor, was probably Graham Earl.

Very true. I don't think he's ever likely to be at that elite level, but he's hard as nails, extremely fit, hits hard, and dedicated, and whilst Mitchell proved to be a level below him, I was still impressed with the way he went about beating him. Pre Casamayor and Diaz, I think he'd have just steamed in there, and tried to take Kevin's head off (which he may well have done) but I thought he was just patient enough to make it much easier for himself.

If he does meet JMM I still think he'll be on the wrong end of a UD, but he'll give anyone at the weight a decent argument.

[Des1]

He is a good fighter, but he is limited.

Casamayor laid him out.
Juan Diaz beat him.

He falls shots at the top level. JMM would surely annihilate him with the counter punches. Khan would likely box circles around him and maybe even stop him. I'd take Guzman to beat him too.

Lets not overrate him on the board.

I doubt Khan would stop him or even outbox him, Katsidis is a tough and busy fighter. Would Khan handle his toughness or pressure? I'm not sure he would.

[glahn]

The Diaz result looks a lot worse than the Casamayor one on paper, partly because of how Diaz has performed himself recently and partly because he actually gave Casamayor a very tough battle. Sometimes it's just a style thing though. No one is going to rate Junior Jones higher than Barrera when people come to write the history books, nor Ricardo Mayorga higher than Vernon Forrest. If Katsidis goes on to beat a bunch of other top guys at lightweight - and that is a definite possibility given that the division isn't that strong right now - he could still prove himself as a top level guy.

[MightyWarrior]

Yes going in with a boxing master like JMM looks a bad decision for Katsidis. Syle wise, he could be stood on his head.
But he's developed a lot more shrewd style in there, picking his punches better, and might just catch JMM, who's looked a bit more vunerable lately. But JMM will be a big favorite no doubt about at it.

[MIG]

This thread just shows how far away Mitchell is from world level.

Agree, thought Mitchell would do better - at least last twice that long. Katsidis is great to watch and I'd like to see him against similar style fighters to see a good tear-up - he's never gonna be a good technical boxer.

[leforge]

Would mitchell beat the likes of limond, rees, Watson or murray ? I not certain he would! Michael was levels above him.

[Quixall]

I think you have based this question on Katsidis' performance against Mitchell........

Mitchell is your typical Euro level fighter and Katsidis would eat him for breakfast everytime he fought him and others like Mitchell. In terms of how good he is, he is fairly one dimensional and essentially relies in his power, which is why he has fallen short at the world level and in my opinion he always will do

[Quixall]

I think you have based this question on Katsidis' performance against Mitchell........

Mitchell is your typical Euro level fighter and Katsidis would eat him for breakfast everytime he fought him and others like Mitchell. In terms of how good he is, he is fairly one dimensional and essentially relies in his power, which is why he has fallen short at the world level and in my opinion he always will do

Would you consider Diaz world level?

Diaz is similar to Katsidis, in that he can operate on the fringes of the world scene, the only difference being that he has won a world title. Diaz had a good performace against Julio Diaz, but ultimately came up short against Campbell, Marquez and more recently Malignaggi. So, for me, Diaz is in similar territory to Katisidis, you can't rule him out of winning a world title, but in general he falls short of being succesfull at the world level. I suppose they both can operate at world level, but being successfull at world level is a different thing IMO

[WildWaylon]

I think it would be silly to underestimate Katsidis because he can steamroller anyone willing to go toe to toe with him and in that respect comparing him with Gatti is very valid. Thats not the way to fight him. To my mind he is very close to World level but not quite there, and the best know how to deal with him.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Yes going in with a boxing master like JMM looks a bad decision for Katsidis. Syle wise, he could be stood on his head.
But he's developed a lot more shrewd style in there, picking his punches better, and might just catch JMM, who's looked a bit more vunerable lately. But JMM will be a big favorite no doubt about at it.

Well, he's getting Marquez at the right time, the wars look to have caught up with him a little of late, and he's definitely much easier to hit than 3-5 years ago. He's a tough SOB, but Mitchell will be a hell of a lot stronger come fight night, and that could be enough of an edge to swing the fight. Marquez should be favourite for sure, but maybe by not as much as everyone might assume.

[Jeff Thomas]

I completely agree with that. I like both Diaz and Katsidis, but both are not world level fighters. They are in the bit between what we would say as Euro and world level, not that it has a name. Katsidis will become a world champion at some point in my opinion, but he isn't good enough to stay there. Heart and toughness can get you a long way, but when he meets another top level guy he'll lose. Saying that though, considering twelve months ago the lightweight division looked stacked it has thinned out in the last few months, and now Marquez saying he'll campaign at lww Katsidis can win titles and defend, and probably have a decent reign till a world class fighter comes along. He will be a decent champion for me, but not against world class fighters.

Diaz was absolute class but appears to have lost form. The Campbell loss was an upset and the Malinnaggi fight testimony that he's seeminhly loss the form he had earlier in his career. Watch him easily turning over Diaz, Freitas, Irwin etc and you will see a world class pressure fighter- in addition to this going tooth and nail with a prime Marquez at lightweight is further evidance of his capability. Just because a fighter loses one or two doesn't make him NOT world class. So he's above Euro class, but below world class. lol- maybe he is continental class then? or junior world class?

Diaz was a fantastic fighter whose candle burned very brightly, I doubt he'll ever regain what he had but when he was in his prime he was undoubtable one of the top p4p fighters in the world IMO.

[Phenomenal-Nutrition]

I completely agree with that. I like both Diaz and Katsidis, but both are not world level fighters. They are in the bit between what we would say as Euro and world level, not that it has a name. Katsidis will become a world champion at some point in my opinion, but he isn't good enough to stay there. Heart and toughness can get you a long way, but when he meets another top level guy he'll lose. Saying that though, considering twelve months ago the lightweight division looked stacked it has thinned out in the last few months, and now Marquez saying he'll campaign at lww Katsidis can win titles and defend, and probably have a decent reign till a world class fighter comes along. He will be a decent champion for me, but not against world class fighters.

Diaz was absolute class but appears to have lost form. The Campbell loss was an upset and the Malinnaggi fight testimony that he's seeminhly loss the form he had earlier in his career. Watch him easily turning over Diaz, Freitas, Irwin etc and you will see a world class pressure fighter- in addition to this going tooth and nail with a prime Marquez at lightweight is further evidance of his capability. Just because a fighter loses one or two doesn't make him NOT world class. So he's above Euro class, but below world class. lol- maybe he is continental class then? or junior world class?

Diaz was a fantastic fighter whose candle burned very brightly, I doubt he'll ever regain what he had but when he was in his prime he was undoubtable one of the top p4p fighters in the world IMO.

Agree somewhat, his loss to Marquez may have taken something away from him, looked pretty brutal, I don't think Marquez was prime then though

[Coco]

P4P he must be close to Froch