MICHAEL KATSIDIS vs ANGEL HUGO RAMIREZ

Exciting and colourful lightweight Michael Katsidis returns to the ring on Saturday when he meets Angel Hugo Ramirez, a Spanish-based Argentinean, in a 12-rounder in the Philippines.

This is Katsidis’s first bout since he was outpointed by Juan Diaz in a fight that although entertaining fell short of being the blood-and-guts war that many had been expecting.

I thought that Katsidis actually showed some improved boxing skills in that fight. He seemed to be blocking and slipping punches a little better, and he was attacking intelligently, throwing bursts of punches and giving Diaz quite a lot of movement to deal with.

There seemed no question that Diaz had won clearly, and the split decision frankly surprised me, but I thought that Katsidis fought an excellent fight. He showed that he isn’t just a face-first slugger who will come at his man and take punches to give them. There is another dimension to the tough and likeable Aussie.

Katsidis has an important fight scheduled for April 10 against ex-champ Julio Diaz. The fight against Ramirez is something of a tune-up, and obviously Katsidis is a massive favourite. The main interest is how Katsidis will look in the fight.

Ramirez is 31 and he is really a junior lightweight, so Katsidis is going to be much the bigger and stronger man. The Argentinean has boxed at lightweight before, though, when he put up a creditable performance in losing on points to Graham Earl in London. Ramirez showed himself to be a smart, rather tricky boxer, and he actually wobbled Earl a bit in that fight. The fight with Ramirez, in fact, tipped off sharp wagering types that Earl was quite likely to lose to Katsidis in their meeting four months later, when the Australian battered the game Briton in five fierce rounds.

Katsidis’s last three fights have been in America, the blood-spattered win over Czar Amonsot, a courageous loss against Joel Casamayor in a fight he seemed poised to win, then the competitive defeat against Juan Diaz.

A fight such as the one against Ramirez gives Katsidis the chance to work on some moves and get in some rounds of boxing, if he so desires. Ramirez isn’t a banger and he is the smaller man, so Katsidis is at minimal risk. He could enjoy a brisk, workout type of fight and then crank up the pressure to close the show in the later rounds. The other option would be to steam right into Ramirez and try to blow him away quickly, but if I was in Katsidis’s camp I would probably want him to take his time and get in some practice at dodging punches, maybe jabbing a bit more, and slowly but surely wear down a boxer who seems to be quite a slippery type.

Ramirez has never been stopped, but I would be very surprised if he made it through the full 12 rounds against Katsidis. I’m thinking on the lines of a stoppage win for Katsidis somewhere between the sixth and ninth rounds — Ramirez just won’t be able to hold him off.