In a battle of 2000 Olympians, Michael ‘Rocky’ Katsidis captured his second Australian title on Friday night with a unanimous ten round decision over Fred Kinuthia at the Brisbane Broncos RLFC.In a ripper of a fight Katsidis (9-0, 7 KO) won by scores of 100-91, 100-92 and 99-91. While there was no doubt Katsidis was a clear winner the awkward Kinuthia (8-6, 5 KO) himself a two time Australian titlist, was competitive in many rounds landing several sneaky right hands and hard jabs to the face.
In the opening round Katsidis set what was to be a hectic pace and stunned Fred with a right hand. Kenyan born thirty four year old looked in trouble late in the fight as he was pepperd with a non-stop rat-a-tat attack but always fought back. strongly It was a much more inspired Fred than the one who was stopped by Mick in five rounds last December 5.
With the win, Katsidis,23, has his sights set on a WBO Asia Pacific title fight according to manager Brendan Smith who took over the role of head cornerman following the Toowoomba fighters recent split with the respected Mick Betros who had been with Katsidis since he was eleven. On this performance, Katsidis could develop into a big local draw but he still needs plenty of improvement in defence before taking on world class opposition.
In undercard action the Les Wilson trained Mark Demori stopped fellow pro debutant Barry Pryor from North Queensland in three rounds and Brisbane’s Peter Rolph retained his state middleweight title with a majority pat over Gold Coaster Max Marriconte.
Super Middleweight debutant Jason Pierce outpointed always reliable Benny Dyer over four rounds and Chris Mc Cullen outscored Shane Winter in a welterweight four rounder.
This card was the first show put together by Brian Kirwan of Red Corner promotions.
For further information check out: www.redcorner.com.au