Tuesday, December 23, 2008 Katsidis to fight on RP ring
BEING a fan of Filipino fighters, Australian warrior Michael “The Great” Katsidis will have his dream come true as he will be fighting on Philippine soil against Spanish pugilist Angelo Hugo Ramirez for the vacant World Boxing Organization Asia Pacific lightweight crown on Jan. 31.
SGG Promotions’ Sammy Gello-ani will be returning the favor that Katsidis bestowed to the Filipinos, after becoming the honorary captain of team Philippines in the World Cup of Boxing in 2007 after the absence of Manny Pacquiao, by giving him the chance to fight in the Philippines.
“I’m returning him the privilege by promoting him here in the Philippines. It’s an honor with him being here,” Gello-ani, who will be promoting the huge event, disclosed to Sun.Star Cebu.
“Katsidis really wants to fight in the Philippines, he is a big fan of Filipino fighters and have high respects for them,” the respected Cebuano promoter added.
Schedule
Gello-ani said that the date is already confirmed, but the venue is yet to be decided, he is looking at either Cebu City or Metro Manila.
Gello-ani will be flying today to Manila to look for a venue and talk with the broadcast station that will air the fight here in the Philippines.
However, Gello-ani would prefer the event to be here in Cebu rather than in Manila for logistical reasons.
“I want it to be in Cebu because I don’t have the full force of manpower there in Manila,” he explained.
Katsidis is training in Thailand now and may fly here two to three weeks before the fight date to continue his training in Cebu City.
“After the holidays, Katsidis will be coming here to Cebu to continue his training. I will still choose what gym he will be training in,” informed Gello-ani.
“If there are less sparring partners here then he will continue to train in Thailand and I will be sending him some sparring partners. I have a Korean named Yoo Shin Kim coming here to be his sparring partner,” he said.
Tail of the tape
Katsidis is on a two-fight losing streak this year, namely his loss to ex-world champion Joel Casamayor, who gave him his first career loss, and former WBO, World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation lightweight titleholder Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz.
He has also fought Filipino fighters like the sidelined Czar Amonsot and Australian-based Ranee Ganoy.
Katsidis, an erstwhile interim WBO lightweight champion, has a professional boxing slate of 23 wins and two losses with 20 knockouts, while Ramirez has a 19-4-2 win-loss-draw record with eight knockouts.
Also seeing action on the big card, which will be beamed live on Australian TV, will be WBO Oriental super bantamweight champion Ciso “Kid Terrible” Morales, WBO Asia Pacific Youth flyweight titlist Marvin “Marvelous” Sonsona and WBO Oriental super featherweight king Anthony “Rocky” Marcial, who will be defending their crowns against undisclosed opponents. (EKA)
