Katsidis vs Casamayor, A Fallen Fighter And Joe Calzaghe

michael katsidisBy Matthew Hurley: Michael Katsidis, who was to have taken on WBA/IBF/WBO lightweight champion Juan Diaz will instead take on Ring Magazine lightweight champion Joel Casamayor. The bout is scheduled for March 22nd and will be broadcast on HBO. HBO backed out of the Diaz – Katsidis showdown after Don King informed the network that Diaz’s contract prohibits him from fighting under the banner of another promotional firm.

Golden Boy Promotions won the $1.5 million purse bid for Diaz – Katsidis. Diaz has one fight remaining on his contract with Don King Productions, which will expire at the end of March. The fighter is now in negotiations to take on Nate Campbell in Cancun on the Oleg Maskaev – Samuel Peter WBC heavyweight title bout on March 8th. The fight, however, has not yet been finalized.

Casamayor is coming off a controversial twelve round split decision over Jose Armando Santa Cruz on November 10th. Katsidis last fought on July 21st, winning an exciting twelve round unanimous decision over Czar Amonsot. The Casamayor – Katsidis fight will be part of an HBO package that will include the replay of the Manny Pacquiao – Juan Manuel Marquez bout that takes place a week earlier.

In other boxing news, South Korean Choi Yo-sam lapsed into a coma after successfully defending his WBO intercontinental flyweight title in Seoul on Tuesday.

Choi won the bout on points but was sent to the canvas with only seconds remaining in the twelfth round from a right hand by challenger Heri Amol. Choi was able to regain his footing but collapsed shortly after the final bell. The fighter then slipped into unconsciousness. He later underwent brain surgery for a cerebral hemorrhage.

According to Han Bo-young, the vice president and secretary general of the Korean Boxing Commission the prognosis for Choi is sadly bleak.

“It seems the outlook for his recovery is very bad,” he said Wednesday, as quoted by reporters Jon Herskovitz and Jessica Kim. “There seems to be a high chance he will be in a vegetative state. He is in a coma right now and doctors are waiting for him to (hopefully) wake up. They said we will have to wait two to three days.”

The boxing community sends its thoughts and prayers to the stricken fighter and his family.

Finally, super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe has now said that he may retire after his next bout. The fighter, coming off a career best performance over Mikkel Kessler, is hoping to take on light heavyweight Bernard Hopkins next year.

“I might have one more and then decide to pack it all in and get on with the rest of my life,” he told the Daily Mirror. There are plenty of other things I want to do. My next fight could definitely be my last.”

Calzaghe and promoter Frank Warren are currently in discussions with Hopkins for a fight in April. It is a bout Calzaghe has long looked forward to.

“I don’t want to fight on for money. That’s not the right motivation. I’ve achieved almost everything I wanted to achieve. I need to have a goal like Hopkins. It has to be something big to motivate me.”