Sunday, September 07, 2008 Quijano: The Bull meets the Gladiator By Jingo Quijano Last Round
THE wifey is up in arms. She’s of the opinion that this boxing obsession of mine has gone a wee bit too far.
The cause of her dissension?
Yesterday, while I was looking down, my brusque 3-year-old daughter Jenya gave me a whack on the back of my head so hard, the judge immediately meted out several severe, and harsh sentences.
My reaction? I looked up and asked: “Was that with a left or with a right?”
LIGHTWEIGHT DUEL. Today, two punching dynamos in the lightweight division meet head on. Hide the women and children. It’s Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz vs. Michael “The Great” Katsidis.
Here’s how they stack up.
POWER. Although Diaz grunts and snorts his way through every combination, he isn’t much of a whacker. With only 17 knockouts in 33 fights, Diaz is more of a volume puncher who likes wearing down opponents to earn stoppage wins.
Katsidis, on the other hand, has won 20 of 23 his wins via the short route. This guy is extremely heavy-handed with one-shot knockout power.
Advantage: Katsidis
SPEED. Neither of these bangers can be mistaken for Speedy Gonzales. Both of them are not particularly fast, but I would give the slight edge to Diaz.
Advantage: Diaz
EXPERIENCE. The biggest names on Katsidis’ hit list are Joel Casamayor (a loss), Cesar Amonsot and the aging Guillermo Mosquera.
Compare those names with the likes of Julio Diaz, Acelino Freitas, Lakva Sim, Nate Campbell (a loss) and Jose Miguel Cotto and you pretty much have an idea of the kind of competition these guys have been fighting.
Advantage: Diaz
DEFENSE. NA (Not applicable).
STYLE MATCH-UP. Diaz doesn’t waste any time and likes to engage immediately. He throws six to eight-punch combos which is rarely seen nowadays. He punches in bunches and will outgun you if you don’t bring enough ammo to the shootout.
Katsidis isn’t shy in mixing it up either. He has no reverse in his gearbox and is more than willing to take two or three coming in, so he can land his power shots.
NOTABLE FIGHTS. Juan Diaz RTD 9 Acelino Freitas.
Freitas was a feared power puncher and had been there with the likes of Diego Corrales and Joel Casamayor. The Baby Bull wasn’t the least bit intimidated and proceeded to go about his usual grinding style. Freitas had his moments and rocked Diaz quite a few times, but the latter’s iron jaw and firm resolve proved to be too much for “Popo”.
Michael Katsidis UD Cesar Amonsot.
Early in the fight, Amonsot was out-boxing Katsidis quite well. Despite suffering several cuts, Katsidis kept coming forward. Amonsot’s showboating didn’t help his cause either as he inexplicably allowed himself to be hit in the midsection several times. Katsidis, who wore a gladiator costume in his ring entrance, was just too tough and too game for the stylish Amonsot.
EXPECT THE FIGHT TO BE: A scorcher. Neither of these proud warriors will give ground and an early stoppage win is very likely. However, Diaz’ better chin and cardio will be the deciding factors in this Pier 6 brawl and so I expect him to win via late stoppage or unanimous decision.
LAWYER’S LEAGUE. Northwoods had to gut it out with tough Pecandela to prevail 60-59 in a nail-biter and emerge on top of the standings after the elimination round in the ongoing IBP Basketball Tournament.
Team rankings are as follows: 1. Northwoods 2. Pecandela 3. Manlap 4. Eagles 4. Eagles 5. Justice League 6. Paneros 7. Ylac 8. Bros. and In-laws
LAST ROUND. It’s on inaanak Jomari Gorne and little cherub Alexa Jada S. Yap who both celebrate their birthdays this week. Cheers!
