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Last night on the undercard of the Michael Sprott – Audley Harrison contest at London’s Wembley Arena, Australia’s Michael Katsidis met former British Champion Graham Earl in a thrilling contest for the Interim WBO Lightweight title.
Katsidis struck paydirt in the very first round, hammering Earl to the canvas with a sizzling right hand. Earl beat the count and was soon floored once again by a searing combination from the Aussie but somehow managed to survive the frame.
The second stanza brought more bad news for Earl as the Englishman found himself downed yet again after fielding another Katsidis right hand bomb. But Earl refused to bend to his rival’s superior firepower and soon smoked a peach of a right hand that had Katsidis floundering but the tourist beat the count. By round’s end Katsidis was once again dishing out punishment.
When the bout resumed for round three, it was wall to wall action as both fighters put everything they had into trying to knock the other out. Neither man seemed to have the edge until Katsidis had a point taken away for low blows in the waning seconds of the round.
The fourth frame saw the advantage shift in Katsidis’ favor as the man from down under began to pull ahead with his high pressure attack that had Earl floundering on the ropes and cut. The local hero was still finding spots of success but his chances to beat Katsidis seemed to be dwindling fast.
The undeniable tide of effort that Katsidis put forth in the fifth round began to take it’s toll on Earl as the big hearted London area man was swamped with power shots that convinced his corner to decline to let their man answer the bell for the sixth round.
Michael Katsidis was declared the winner and new Interim WBO Lightweight titlist. The heavy handed native of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia improves to 22-0 (20) while Graham Earl falls to 25-2 (12).
