Rick Reeno is reporting today that terms have been reached for the rumored HBO Boxing After Dark double-header on March 27, featuring a lightweight main event between Michael Katsidis and current junior lightweight titlist Robert Guerrero.
Guerrero (25-1-1, 17 KO) won the IBF 130-pound title in a good, close scrap last August against Malcolm Klassen. He's also a former IBF featherweight titlist. Katsidis (26-2, 21 KO) was last seen on the Mayweather-Marquez undercard, winning a rough but wide decision over Vicente Escobedo. That fight was for the interim WBO title. If Juan Manuel Marquez, who holds the full WBO title right now, decides to fight Amir Khan at 140 pounds, Katsidis-Guerrero would almost surely be for the full WBO belt.
I like this fight a lot on paper. Both are good, generally enjoyable fighters to watch, and both have a solid killer instinct when they get guys in trouble. Think back to Guerrero's win over Jason Litzau and how badly he destroyed a "cowboy" fighter that night. At the same time, Katsidis is physically strong, has a really good threshold for pain, and takes a horrible beating before he goes down, if he's going to go down.
Speed would be on Guerrero's side, and technique, too. He's a better boxer. But Katsidis can be such a bull, and that forces me to recall Guerrero's truncated fight against Daud Yordan last year. Many felt he simply quit when he was cut early because he didn't like the pressure that the upstart Yordan was putting on him. If nothing else, Katsidis constantly comes forward and doesn't like to give guys time to breathe. If Guerrero has trouble dealing with pressure, he could be in a lot of trouble.
He could also use his speed and legs to outbox Katsidis all night. There are plenty of ways for this fight to go. It's a good one. It also speaks to the complete lack of options at 130, because "The Ghost" only moved up to that weight last year. With Humberto Soto moving to 135, too, there are almost no names with any American TV value in the division.
The co-feature would pit interim WBA junior welterweight titlist Marcos Maidana (27-1, 26 KO) against hot prospect Victor Cayo (24-0, 16 KO). Cayo had a year of step-up wins in '09. At 25, he's yet to face anyone quite as good as Maidana, or anyone that punches like him. It's another very interesting fight, and while the idea in theory -- and in the press -- is to mold something bigger out of a possible Amir Khan-Maidana fight, they'd both be taking fights they could very well lose in the coming months.