By Matthew Hurley: Michael Katsidis, the current WBO interim lightweight title holder, may hold the official belt when he takes on Joel Casamayor on March 22nd at a venue yet to be determined. Katsidis was scheduled to fight IBF/WBA/WBO champion Juan Diaz on February 9th but the bout fell apart after Golden Boy Promotions won the purse bid.
Diaz, who is promoted by Don King, is contractually prohibited from fighting under another promotional banner. After King contacted HBO in regards to the clause in the contract the cable network bailed out of the fight. The Katsidis camp then opted to fight Casamayor but hoped that Diaz would be stripped of his title. That now looks to be the case.
WBO President Francisco Valcarcel notified Willie Savannah, the current manager of Juan Diaz, that if the champion does not fight Katsidis next he will be stripped of his title and it will be given to the Australian fighter. Diaz is now scheduled to defend his WBA and IBF titles against Nate Campbell on March 8th in Cancun, Mexico on the Samuel Peter – Oleg Maskaev undercard. His contract with Don King expires at the end of March.
“Michael wants to be the defending world champion when he faces Casamayor and so does HBO,” Brendon Smith, Katsidis’ trainer and manager told the Daily Telegraph. “It’s time the WBO dropped the hammer on Diaz. We signed to fight him and he backed out so the WBO has no real choice but to give us the title.”
Smith is hopeful that the WBO will present the belt to Katsidis by weeks end.
Katsidis last fought Czar Amonsot in July winning a twelve round unanimous decision. Casamayor, a former Olympic gold medalist, super featherweight and lightweight champion, struggled in his last bout earning a controversial split decision over Jose Armando Santa Cruz in November. The WBC quickly mandated a rematch in light of the controversial decision. The rematch is on the WBC’s list of bouts that will be up for purse bids on Monday, January 14th in Mexico City.