Michael Katsidis dedicates Marquez fight to brother Stathi
by Scott Christ on Oct 21, 2010 8:18 PM EDT
in Boxing News Analysis
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News yesterday that Stathi Katsidis, the jockey brother of fighter Michael Katsidis, had passed away momentarily put Michael's November 27 fight with Juan Manuel Marquez for the world lightweight championship on hold. But today, Katsidis released a statement that says he will indeed fight on.
I have lost my closest friend, my inspiration in life, my one and only brother. This is something I could never imagine, but for some reason I feel his life is not a loss. My brother is me! We live our lives through each other. We dedicate our triumphs to one another and share the challenges we face in life. What does someone do when they lose the one person in their life like this? They are devastated right? Allow me to share with you Stathi's thoughts and what he wants. If you can believe me, I feel you will all be somewhat enlightened to hear what I have say.
The fight will go on! I will do this for Stathi, my family and myself. The moment I walked in for a grueling sparring session after hearing the news of his death earlier that day, my trainer Brendon Smith shook my hand and said to me "you are about to take the bravest step of your life." We nodded, smiled and went to work. I worked as I have never done before. He is with me and will be all the way. I am happy about this.
I have never experienced anything like I felt that day. Stathi is inside me! We will fight this fight together. I know this is what he wants.
I would like to thank everyone for their well wishes and prayers for my brother, my family and myself. God bless.
If that doesn't get to you just a little, I don't know what to tell you. All respect to Michael Katsidis for choosing to fight on when he could have understandably postponed a fight of this magnitude. It's the biggest fight of his career, and he's choosing to take that to honor his brother. I'm sure no matter how he fares against Marquez, he's going to make the people most important to him proud next month.
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wow
im officially rooting for michael now.. thats great stuff
"After this, I'm gonna kick Bob Arum's ass."
-George Lopez
Holy Crizzap
This is unbelievable! Kat might take JMM’s head off in this fight. JMM didn’t look particularly good and really didn’t have the power he had in the first Diaz fight, which is not a good sign for trying to ward off the onslaught of Kat. The age of JMM is going to catch up to him in this fight with the difference in speed actually tilting to Kat.
"The bell that tolls for all in boxing belongs to a cash register."
-Bob Verdi
There is no fighter easier to root for than Michael Katsidis.
He’s nothing short of thrilling to watch, and is such a good all-round guy outside of the ring. Juan Manuel is one of my all-time favourite fighters, but I can’t help rooting for Katsidis here.
"The terror of the unforeseen is what the science of history hides, turning a disaster into an epic"
by Oli Goldstein on Oct 22, 2010 5:38 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
wow
thats kinda beautiful. A win would be no less than he deserves. It’s a shame this is boxing though, it tends to pick the script up, rip it into tiny pieces, and chuck it back at you.
He'll Have Won
Even if he loses.
If love would die along with death, this life wouldn't be so hard--Andrew Vachss
by BoxAnne on Oct 22, 2010 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Really admirable,brave and heroic decision by Michael Katsidis.
I like Marquez but it will be hard not be rooting for MK in this one and i give him more chance than ever now,both because of his extra motivation and because he seems to have learned from his losses.
Also Marquez is getting old.
Moving speech by Michael and he gets massive respect from me and i’m sure from everyone.
Who could have blamed Katsidis if he had have pulled out?
This could be his time to break through but even if not,like BoxAnne says even if he loses,he’ll still have won and i’m sure his brother would be more than proud of him.
If Katsidis manages to pull off this win
He will have gone SO much further than I ever expected. Heck, I never thought he’d get quite as far as he has. After the Earl fight, I thought he’d pretty much max out at being a fringe contender.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Thanks Matt,
The thing is, words just aren’t enough. I wouldn’t even want to imagine how the guy must be feeling, could you?
What a decent chap. Always kind of knew it. Just kind of felt it.
Luck is beining prepared when opportunity presents itself.
Every interview he’s ever had has displayed first-class attitude. He’s just a great guy, clearly really loves boxing, and obviously now we know he has massive guts in and out of the ring. I remember he was asked after the Diaz fight if he considered taking time off or even retiring (since you have to ask everyone if they’re going to “retire” now) and he quickly went, “Nah. I’ll fight who’s next.” I knew then I was definitely a Katsidis fan.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Oct 23, 2010 12:12 AM EDT up reply actions
Bring a tear to a glass eye
Makes me proud to be a Queenslander . I’ve never seen a more genuine outpouring of grief over a sportsperson’s death in Oz . Stathi was beloved by his fellow gun riders, the young apprentice jockeys , the punters and the trainers . GO MICK !
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me. " Hunter S Thompson.
When I was a child growing up around old timer boxing men they gave me a mental picture of your typical old school hard as oak Aussie fighter , this Katsidis kid is typical of what was instilled i’n my minds eye back i’n my early years , good luck to Kats i’n his career and condolences to the Katsidis family from Wales UK
by Spud Wales on Oct 25, 2010 7:57 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
God bless Katsidis
I’ll be cheering him on.
Vlade Divac, the 24 year old [Redacted] center who reported to training camp at 250, 15 pounds more than last season's weight: "We all get heavier as we get older because there's a lot more information in our heads. Our heads weigh more."
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