Juan Manuel Marquez stops Michael Katsidis, defends lightweight title

By Brett Okamoto

Published Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010 | 7:53 p.m.

Updated Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010 | 9:01 p.m.

Juan Manuel Marquez defended his lightweight title for the second time Saturday, stopping Michael Katsidis in the ninth round of their title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Despite suffering a knockdown in the third round off a hard left hook from Katsidis, Marquez recovered and went on to control much of the fight.

“He surprised me with the left hook,” Marquez said. “My corner told me to be careful. I recuperated well. I’m in very good condition.”

Marquez looked good from the opening bell, working his jab effectively and lighting up Katsidis with numerous combinations.

Momentum changed drastically in the third, when Katsidis was able to work inside and land the big punch that put Marquez down.

The Mexican champion fought a smart fight from then on and appeared to find his rhythm even when Katsidis backed him up against the ropes.

As has been the case his entire career, it was Marquez’s accuracy that appeared to make a difference — he landed 52 percent of his punches to just 31 percent for Katsidis, according to ringside stats.

Although Marquez was ahead on all three scorecards going into the ninth, the stop was not without controversy. Katsidis appeared in trouble but was circling around the ring and remained on his feet after referee Kenny Bayless stepped in at the 2:14 mark.

It was the Australian fighter’s first shot at a world title, however he didn’t complain about the stoppage.

“It was just one of those things. I got caught at the end of the fight,” Katsidis said. “Juan Manuel did a great job.”

With the win, Marquez improves to 2-0 since suffering a loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September 2009. He’s been actively campaigning for a third meeting against Manny Pacquiao.

The two have fought twice previously, ending in a draw and a split decision win in favor of Pacquiao.

“We know Pacquiao is avoiding us,” Marquez said. “A third one is what the public wants to see.”

We know pac is avoid ing us put a lot of work into it and a third one is what the public wants to see

Just one of those things got caught late in the fight juan manuel marquez did a great job

Juan Manuel Marquez (52-5-1, 38 KO) vs. Michael Katsidis (27-3, 22 KO)

Round One: Marquez lands first, with a left hook as Katsidis comes in with the jab. Jabs from Marquez graze off Katsidis. Combination from Marquez, but Katsidis responds with a straight punch. Right hook to the body form Marquez and then he goes upstairs. Another right hook to the body for Marquez, set up by the jab. Katsidis with a counter left hook. Stinging left hook fro Marquez, it fires up Katsidis and he tries to respond but Marquez defends well. Now a blatant low punch from Marquez which earns him a warning from the referee.

Round Two: Marquez sticks in the jab repeatedly. Katsidis eats another jab but lands a nice left hook. Katsidis pressuring, trying to get in close. Marquez continues to land that jab. Katsidis in close now with Marquez against the ropes and he throws a few hard shots to Marquez’s body. Three unanswered uppercuts for Marquez. Nice combination for Marquez. Katsidis bullies him to the ropes again but Marquez so accurate with his punches. He lands a few counter hooks cleanly, but Katsidis still pushing forward and he lands a few hooks now. Marquez responds with more counter hooks against the ropes. Clean flurry of three unanswered punches for Marquez ends the round.

Round Three: Katsidis lets his hands go and moves forward but Marquez defends. Now out of nowhere Katsidis lands the left hook and Marquez is down. He gets to his feet and Katsidis comes forward. Katsidis with another left hook and Marquez is in trouble, backed up to the corner. Kasidis goes low with the left hook and then to the head of Marquez. Marquez circles off the ropes and fits in a straight punch, but Katsidis moving right through it. Marquez back against the ropes, trying to fend off Katsidis’s attack. He circles to his left and ends up back in the corner. Right hook, left hook combination from Katsidis. Marquez finally works off the ropes, throwing the jab as he backs up. Strong finish for Marquez, as he lands a flurry to end the round.

Round Four: Left hook, right hook combination for Marquez and then a vicious uppercut that knocks Katsidis’s head back. Big overhand right from Katsidis’s swings over the top of Marquez. Marquez backing up, throwing the jab. Katsidis moving forward. Right hook lands for Katsidis on the inside. Nice left hook to the body for Marquez, followed by another. Katsidis works back inside but it’s Marquez this time with the effective strikes. Nice left hook from Katsidis, answered with a combination from Marquez.

Round Five: The jab continues to be effective more Marquez early in the fifth. Katsidis closes the distance and lands two punches, but Marquez responds with effective counters. Nice left hook to the body for Marquez. Right uppercut for Marquez. Katsidis walks him to the ropes and lands a right uppercut, but Marquez responds with more hooks to the body. Nice combination for Marquez, the straight left and then left hook. Two more left hooks for Marquez start another great flurry to finish the round.

Round Six: Katsidis lands a hard right uppercut, Marquez fires back with a combination. More work to the body done by Marquez. Jab by Katsidis and now a hard left hook under the chin of Marquez. Two straight jabs snap Katsidis’s head back before another flurry from Marquez with his back against the ropes. He seems to be becoming more comfortable there, even if it’s not exactly where he wants to be. Small flurry by Katsidis ends the round.

Round Seven: Hard left hook lands for Katsidis to start the round. He bullies Marquez back to the corner and lands two more hard straight hooks. Marquez firing back and they trade punches in the corner before Marquez circles out. Katsidis walks him to the next corner and looks for the left hook again. Right uppercut from Katsidis, answered with a counter left from Marquez. Very active round by both fighters so far. Nice work to the body by Katsidis but Marquez catches him with his hands down and lands a right hook.

Round Eight: Katsidis eats a few jabs before connecting on an overhand right. Left hook inside for Katsidis. More work on the inside from Katsidis, but Marquez doing nice job avoiding major shots and constantly scoring points on the breaks with his jab and counters. Marquez back in the corner but he’s bobbing and weaving and lighting up Katsidis even from this position. Katsidis with a left hook but Marque answers with another combination and then a hard left hook that seemed to stun Katsidis momentarily.

Round Nine: Right hook, left hook land for Katsidis after backing Marquez into the corner. Two more unanswered hooks from Katsidis as he continues playing the role of aggressor. Hard straight right lands for Marquez and it starts off a blistering combination that has Katsidis hurt. Katsidis now the one backing away. Marquez lands two more hooks and the crowd is going crazy for the knockdown. Katsidis clearly phased. He’s circing to his left and eating a ton of punches. One minute still in the round and Marquez picking him apart. And now referee Kenny Bayless steps in to stop it. Crowd is happy for Marquez but it doesn’t sound like they like the stop.

Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at LVSunFighting