Michael Katsidis Replaces Graham Earl, Hopes to Fight Erik Morales Later

Michael Katsidis will thankfully not be fighting Graham Earl next, as the contract talks broke down following a verbal agreement, and instead will take on Michael Lozada in his move up to the junior welterweight division.

Lozada (38-8-1, 30 KO) isn't much better an opponent than Earl would have been, but at least unlike Earl, Lozada is an active fighter. This fight is designed simply to have Katsidis fight at home in Australia for the first time since 2006, a homecoming bout lined up as all but a "gimme" win for the all-action brawler. Lozada, 27, is a Mexican willing to travel, but he doesn't take the best punch, which makes this an easy matchup for Katsidis. Lozada was stopped in 2:50 by Pier Olivier Cote in March, and was even stopped by Paul Malignaggi in six last December.

Katsidis (27-4, 22 KO) ultimately hopes to land a fight with Erik Morales (51-7, 35 KO), the Mexican star who like Katsidis lost on April 9 in Las Vegas on the well-received but lightly-bought HBO pay-per-view called "Action Heroes." But while Morales was very competitive against Marcos Maidana, Katsidis was basically run over by Robert Guerrero in the main co-feature, and it seems as though with a record of 4-4 in his last eight, Katsidis has likely hit the the ceiling for his career. Katsidis' manager/trainer Brendon Smith says preliminary talks for Katsidis vs Morales have taken place with Golden Boy Promotions.

Katsidis vs Lozada will take place on August 13 at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Queensland.