It's no exaggeration: from the introductions of the fighters, to the staredown at center ring, there was something in the air. And Joel Casamayor and Michael Katisidis delivered on the tension in the building with a knock-down, drag-out, action-packed barnburner of a fight, better than anyone could have expected. When all was said and done, Casamayor found himself back in the real mix at 135 pounds, knocking the warrior Aussie out in the tenth round.

It was a hell of a fight, mean-spirited and nasty all the way, and I feel bad for anyone that passed on it.

Casamayor (36-3-1, 22 KO) came into the ring swaggering like the "El Cepillo" of old, full of bluster, arrogance, and the idea that he was better than his foe. Katsidis entered the ring with his usual gladiator garb on, which prompted Casamayor to jump directly in his face as soon as Katsidis entered the ring. The two camps were pulled apart, and nobody even had their robes off yet (to be fair, Katsidis wears no robe).

Moments into the fight, Katsidis tasted the canvas from a Casamayor left. And after getting back to his feet, Casamayor hit him with another, even better straight left, sending the Aussie challenger to the mat again. Katsidis survived the round, but it certainly didn't look good.

Through two more rounds, Casamayor's speed and sneaky power gave great trouble to Katsidis (23-1, 20 KO). It appeared as though we were in for an outclassing, a good, tough fighter unable to hang with the once-great champion, finding his rhythm and power once more.

Not so fast.

In the fourth, Katsidis came roaring back into the fight, forcing Casamayor into clinch after clinch, threatening to ruin what had been a great night of fighting. But Katsidis kept it interesting with his lunging attacks, hard right hands, and then it all broke wide open in the sixth round.

With a digging body shot followed by a left hook and a right hand, Casamayor was sent falling onto the ring apron by Katsidis, and for a moment, it looked like the fight was over. A remarkable comeback had been staged, and Katsidis would walk out the new lightweight champion.

And, again, not so fast.

Casamayor recovered, but Katsidis continued battering him through the seventh and eighth rounds. With the fight now firmly in his grasp, Casamayor came out strong in the ninth, winning the round but it was scored even at best for the Cuban defector, as he had a point taken away in the round for a low blow.

After the round, Katsidis argued with his corner over what round it was. He was quite adamant that it was the 11th. Maybe that should've tipped us off that he wasn't quite all there at that point, tired and beaten up.

It ended pretty suddenly. As Katsidis came charging at Casamayor again, the wily veteran bombed him with an enormous shot, sending him flailing to the mat in mid-punch of his own. Katsidis, on shaky legs, came back to fight on. But it wasn't long before Casamayor had him staggered again, mostly due to a short right hand, and the referee jumped in to wave it off.

While the crowd was pro-Katsidis, and most fans are going to instinctively like the all-action warrior more than the flashy, pompous Casamayor, Casamayor flat-out beat Katsidis tonight. This was no robbery like last November; Casamayor came to fight (at this point, you have to accept his clinches to some degree), and he beat a gritty young fighter.

So Joel Casamayor owns the lightweight championship of the world still, but Katsidis gave a good impression as a legit contender. This is no B.S. action fighter that can't hang with the best. Casamayor was on his game tonight, and Katsidis tested him hard.

On the undercard, Librado Andrade (27-1, 21 KO) became the mandatory contender to Lucian Bute's IBF super middleweight title with an eighth round TKO of Robert Stieglitz (31-2, 19 KO) in a damn good fight. Andrade was his usual damage-absorbing, action-pushing self, but Stieglitz had a fine showing in defeat. He was simply out-lasted by a robot. They both cut a good pace, landed hard punches, and fought well. Andrade is a tough guy to beat just because he never stops coming forward.

In Wales, Andreas Kotelnik stopped Gavin Rees in the final minute of 12th round to take the WBA junior welterweight title, handing Rees his first loss in the process. It was the second straight shortcoming for one of Enzo Calzaghe's fighters, following Enzo Maccarinelli's knockout loss to David Haye on March 8. Rees is now 27-1 (13). The new champion Kotelnik improves to 29-2-1 (13).

MAIN EVENT
For The Ring Magazine Lightweight Title
JOEL CASAMAYOR
Lightweight Champion
(35-3-1, 21 KO, Miramar, CA by way of Guantanamo, Cuba)
versus
MICHAEL KATSIDIS
Ring Magazine No. 6 Contender
(23-0, 20 KO, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia)

IBF Super Middleweight Eliminator
LIBRADO ANDRADE
Ranked No. 5 by The Ring
(26-1, 20 KO, La Habra, CA)
versus
ROBERT STIEGLITZ
(31-1, 19 KO, Magdeburg, Germany by way of Ejsk, Russia)

I'm still favoring Casamayor. And still hoping I'm wrong. I like Andrade to beat Stieglitz just due to his constant pressure.

The show starts at 10:05 ET.

Quick Result -- Rees loses to Kotelnik

As many expected, Welsh 140-pound titlist Gavin Rees lost in his first defense, falling to Andreas Kotelnik via 12th round TKO. I expected Kotelnik to win via UD, but I was rooting for Rees. Like most of the British/Welsh fighters, he's a scrapper with a likable attitude, but his only good win came last year when he upset Souleymane M'baye, who should've lost to Kotelnik in his previous fight if you want an opinion.

The better fighter won. Tough month to be Enzo Calzaghe, huh? He and Nacho Beristain should go get a beer together.

Photo © Al Bello / Getty Images

Stack it up however you like, dis Joel Casamayor if you must based on his last fight, and admire the bruising Michael Katsidis because of his blood-and-guts style, but this Saturday's fight between the lightweight champ and the Aussie challenger is not only important for its division, but it's huge for both fighters.

In a month where we've been treated to Vazquez-Marquez III, Marquez-Pacquiao II, Diaz-Campbell and Maskaev-Peter, the headlining bout on Saturday's edition of HBO Boxing After Dark has slipped in without much in the way of hype or anticipation.

Much of that can be laid on the doorstep of the Casamayor, the 36-year old Ring Magazine champion at 135 pounds who everyone feels is undeserving of the title. Nobody on earth besides judges Frank Lombardi and Ron McNair thought Casamayor beat Jose Armando Santa Cruz last November -- nobody. It's been called one of the greatest robberies in the history of the sport, and rightly so.

But enough breath has been wasted on that travesty of a decision. Instead, let's focus on what's really at stake, and that is Casamayor's lightweight title. Whether he still deserves it or not is irrelevant; he has it, and the 27-year old Katsidis is coming to Cabazon, California, to take it away from him.

And while Katsidis is the betting favorite (-230), don't count the chickens before they hatch.

Yeah, Casamayor (35-3-1, 21 KO) looked terrible against Santa Cruz. It was also the first time he'd fought in 13 months, following his rubber match victory over an overweight Diego Corrales in 2006, after lengthy political wrangling with the WBC. Now under Golden Boy's banner, Casamayor should find that the B.S. of the sport is not what he's dealt with in the past.

Maybe Casamayor is just old and worn out, not the fighter he once was. Maybe Katsidis really will storm him and maul him into submission. Or maybe the wily Casamayor will give the Aussie challenger a boxing lesson of a lifetime.

Photo © Ethan Miller / Getty Images

Let's not forget that Michael Katsidis (23-0, 20 KO, ranked No. 6 by Ring Magazine) is still quite untested. 2007 served as his coming-out party, with grueling wins over Graham Earl and Czar Amonsot, two fighters more than willing to stand and trade with him, at their own peril.

Whether you think it's boring or not, Casamayor is not that guy. Katsidis is going to be forced into the role of pursuer. And he's never shown any kind of defense, meaning that Casamayor, if he's willing, could be able to pepper in shot after shot and win plenty of rounds.

I really do like Michael Katsidis, and like most, I'd love for him to win on Saturday. Let's not make any bones about it: Casamayor is an arrogant, trash-talking jerk carrying around a distinction as champion that he doesn't deserve. To be fair to everyone, Jose Armando Santa Cruz is the real lightweight champion, which in fact is just as silly as Casamyor being champion. Neither of them are close to being the division's best. That distinction would now fall to Nate Campbell, and had been held by Juan Diaz prior to Nate's brilliant victory over "The Baby Bull."

While Casamayor deserves plenty of respect for his career accomplishments and more props for being one of his generation's best boxers, he's not exactly likable.

But, in many ways, this reminds me somewhat of Mayweather-Gatti, with the reservation that this is not a prime years Casamyor. While everyone was rooting for Gatti, I think anyone with a clue knew Mayweather was going to demolish him. The gulf in ability isn't quite as wide for Casamayor-Katsidis as it was for that fight, but on paper, if you assume part of Casamayor's problem in November was just ring rust, it's pretty big. Katsidis is wonderfully entertaining, but he's fairly limited overall. Casamayor has fought a lot of tough sons of bitches who were better fighters than Katsidis is currently.

So while it feels like the Katsidis bandwagon is almost ready to tip over thanks to it being beyond maximum capacity, don't rush to put your money in on the slugger from down under taking Casamayor's paper crown and making it at least somewhat more respectable. Dogs don't come much more live than the veteran champ this Saturday night. There are too many easy-to-see ways that he can win this fight and spoil the party.

The HBO undercard was supposed to feature Junior Witter defending his portion of the 140-pound title against boring as dirt Demetrius Hopkins, but that fight was never actually signed. Whoops! Instead, Golden Boy is offering up super middleweight rock 'em sock 'em robot Librado Andrade (26-1, 20 KO, ranked No. 5 by Ring Magazine) against 26-year old Russian-born Robert Stieglitz (31-1, 19 KO), who lives and does all his fighting in Germany. It's not quite as compelling as Junior Witter on American TV, but it'll do. Andrade is consistently entertaining, and it's a fairly big break for Stieglitz, who is making his second appearance in the States.

Stieglitz's biggest fight thus far was against Alejandro Berrio for the vacant IBF super middleweight title. The powerful Berrio knocked him out in the third round, though Stieglitz won the first two. Andrade isn't quite the puncher Berrio is, but his busy style is tough to defend unless you have a serious advantage in ability, like Mikkel Kessler did.

Simply put for the main event, though: It's do or die time for Joel Casamayor. If he fights the way he did in November, Katsidis will blow him out, and perhaps end his career. If he fights competitively and loses, he gets some respect back. If he wins, you've got to consider looking for a rematch with Nate Campbell, as Joel will be in a great position to truly get his status as the world's number one lightweight back.

I've hinted at it, but official prediction: Casamayor outboxes Katsidis and frustrates him over the full 12 rounds, sending his foe back to the drawing board. I'm rooting to be wrong, but I really think I'm going to be right.