GALLANT AMONSOT LOSES IN TITLE FIGHT
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 22 Jul 2007
WBO Asia Pacific lightweight champion Czar Amonsot put on a gallant fight against undefeated WBO interim lightweight champion Michael Katsidis before losing a unanimous twelve round decision at the Mandalay Bay Resort Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Sunday.
In an action-packed, sometimes brutal battle that qualified for “Fight of the Year” honors, the Filipino southpaw paid the price for his occasional showboating and carelessness that resulted in knockdowns in the second and tenth rounds which clinched the fight for Katsidis although the second knockdown appeared to be more of a shove.
In contrast, referee Jay Nady who appeared to only have eyes for seeming infractions by the Filipino ruled a clear knockdown scored by Amonsot when he nailed an off-balance Katisidis with a right hook as a slip.
Katisids was badly cut over and under his left eye while there was also a cut inflicted on his right cheek by Amonsot who nailed the champion with a series of combinations throughout. But the Australian of Greek descent proved to be a genuine ring warrior and survived, before eventually winning on the sheer volume of punches thrown and the two knockdowns.
In an outlandish scorecard Ruben Garcia had Katsidis the winner 116-110 while C.J. Ross scored it for the champion 115-111. The third judge Patricia Morse Jarman had Katisidis the winner by a mere two points, 114-112 which more accurately reflected the excellent stand of the Filipino who was hoping to make it three in a row for the Philippines after Florante Condes and Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire won IBF world titles two weeks ago.
Donaire, the newly crowned IBF flyweight champion who scored a spectacular fifth round KO over another Australian, hitherto undefeated Vic Darchinyan, said he thought Amonosot made a mistake showboating at one stage of the fight pointing out that such actions don’t impress the judges. However, he praised the courageous stand of Amonsot against the undefeated champion whose record improved to 23-0 with 20 knockouts while Amonsot dropped to 18-3-1, 10 KO’s.
Amonsot started off well and was in command of the fight catching Katsidis with successive uppercuts in the second round before he got careless and left himself wide open allowing Katsidis to drop him with a right hook. Amonsot appeared to recover quickly and took the next three rounds with solid combinations that targeted the left eye of Katisidis which was a gory sight and almost shut. After a right hook dropped Katsidis in round seven which referee Nady ruled a slip, an accidental clash of heads opened another cut on top of the eyebrow of the champion that turned his face into a grotesque mass.
When the ringside doctor told Katsidis’ corner that he would consider stopping the fight because of the cuts, the champion summoned one last effort and decked Amonsot early in the tenth round but the Filipino recovered and fought back furiously towards the end of the round. Amonsot tried his best in the last two rounds but Katisids wisely stayed out of range to eventually prevail in an exciting bout that proved the worthiness of another Filipino fighter from the ALA Gym which is owned by respected boxing patron Tony Aldeguer.
Aldeguer told Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today after the fight that he was proud of the effort of Amonsot but said “the trouble with him is he cannot sustain his focus during a fight.”
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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