Interesting katsidis story

Long story but a good read:

On the afternoon of Friday, June 29th, around noon, I would receive a phone call from one Brendan Smith, the trainer and manager of WBO lightweight titlist Michael 'the Great' Katsidis - who faces Filipino Czar Amonsot this Saturday

Smith would inform me that on Saturday, Katsidis would be going through a rigorous workout of the likes we had never seen before. He would invite us to film this and then perhaps interview Katsidis, as he worked to drum up interest in a fighter that has a chance to be one of the sport’s brightest stars. Armed with a crowd-pleasing style, he has the personality and winning look to go along with it.

I was told by the Australian-based manager that his fighter's regimen consisted of pounding on a tire with a sledgehammer, then pushing a flat-bed truck that was in neutral and then hauling a wheelbarrow filled with sand bags on the way back. He would then repeat this process over and over again.

It sounded to me more like 'the World’s Strongest Man' competition that I see on ESPN2 than anything associated with boxing.

‘Hey, why don't I do Katsidis' workout? I work out regularly, I think I'm in decent shape. And besides, you're only young and stupid once,' I thought to myself. Besides, that would be my Saturday's exercise. I would call Smith later, who loved the idea. Harty would just chuckle, perhaps knowing what I would be getting myself into.

After a good night’s sleep and a light salmon salad, I would leave my place right around noon. As I opened my door, I would get call from Smith. "Hey, Steve," he would tell me in his Aussie ascent, "Michael will be going out on a five-mile run. Shall we wait for you?"

I would tell him to send him on his way. Listen, I was here to do a story, not a suicide mission. I know my limits, thank you very much.

As Harty and I parked our vehicles and were met by Smith in front of the parkway, we see Katsidis, who had just come in from doing his roadwork and whose body is drenched in sweat. His body looks as if it has 200-pounds of steely muscle packed into it's 140-someting pound frame.

I had met Katsidis and Smith a couple of months earlier in Anaheim for the press conference to announce their May 26th bout against Joan Guzman that was scrapped due to a dubious injury suffered by the Dominican. Like most from 'Down Under', they are a friendly and gracious duo, and we had kept in touch throughout.

After we make our greetings, Smith explains what we would be doing at the end of the long driveway of their building, which was adjacent to another condominium complex that was still being built. There was this huge tire that looked like the kind used on tractors or 18-wheelers, with a sledgehammer laying on it. For two minutes we would hit the sledgehammer both right and left-handed. From there, a truck put into neutral would be pushed with the assistance of Smith for about 50 yards. Each set would be concluded by shoving a wheelbarrow filled with sandbags back to the tire.

They would make a concession for this boxing scribe by cutting down the rounds from six to four. I didn't object.

"You may want to get warmed up," said Smith with a smile.

Folks, this workout only took about 10-15 minutes, but it felt like an eternity. Each successive interval seemed to take longer and longer. As Katsidis thrusts the sledgehammer, you hear a loud, 'THWAAAACK, THWAAAACK!!!' at a rapid cadence, almost as if he were a machine. Meanwhile, with me, it's more of a 'puff....puff.....puff....' which is noted to me as I'm heaving by Harty, who's thoroughly enjoying this whole spectacle behind the safety of his camera. It doesn't help my ego at all that I'm about a full 60 pounds heavier than this guy and I can't generate nearly the full force on the Goodyear or come anywhere near his pace. "Sit down and turn," exhorted Smith. Which really meant get your ass into it and bend your legs.

When Katsidis pushes the truck, it seems to pick up speed as they get going. Me? Well, I'm glad Smith is right there to help me along, let’s put it that way. As I push the wheelbarrow back, I can feel the soreness in my backside and legs. Each successive round would seem longer and longer and I would be sweating profusely halfway through the first minute of pounding on the tire.

Ever feel so overwhelmed physically that you almost get delirious? That's the feeling I had the last two sets. Lupe Aquino, the former middleweight, who is part of Team Katsidis, and timing us, tells me, "You're going to feel it, tomorrow." Hell, I was feeling it all over, right now. This truly was a full body workout, part cardio, part weight-training, all lunacy.

After I went through this ordeal, it would take me a full 10 minutes to catch my breath and gather myself. I would anxiously gulp my Gatorade down quickly like a man being rescued from the Sahara. Yes, it was in me - and needed quite badly.

Katsidis, barely breathing hard, would nonchalantly do some push-ups to pass the time. For him, it's just another day at the office.

"It's a mental thing and so is it in a fight," explained Katsidis, who would go through another light workout later that evening. "You go through the same thing, you have to place your shots right, you have to have your timing right. I relate all to the fight game."

Katsidis, whose arrival to the United States has been delayed for various reasons, is one of the most exciting young fighters in the world. His bout against Graham Earl in February, where he would stop his foe in London in five for the WBO strap, is one of the leading contenders for Fight of the Year. It's just one of many contests that has had pundits trumpeting his arrival. His style is a swarming, attacking one, that leaves very little room for his opponents to breathe.

"You get an all-out action fighter. Expect what not to expect. You're going to see something that is unpredictable. If the guy’s going to be a boxer, I'm going to go against the style he likes. Whatever he doesn't like, I'm going to put that in his face. So you'll be excited, I'll guarantee you that," he says in describing himself.

While the main event featuring Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright has been trumpeted as a chess match (never a good thing), Katsidis-Amonsot could be the night’s best pure fight of the pay-per-view telecast.

"It very well could be," he agreed. "This is boxing, and anything can happen in boxing. I'm not going to predict the future. But I'm going to predict you're going to get a 100-percent performance from me and that's all I can promise."

In Amonsot, who's trained by Freddie Roach, he is facing one of the most physically imposing 135-pounders in the world. If you didn't know better, you'd think he was a welterweight.

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog," says Katsidis, when you mention his opponent’s stature to him. "I always expect the fight of my life and I'm prepared to give my life when I get in the ring. That's the difference, I have the hunger, I believe, and I'm going to have more heart on the night."

Katsidis was actually slated to train at Roach's Wild Card Boxing Club for this date, until it was found out that Amonsot would be under the stewardship of Roach for this fight.

"No problem," said Katsidis, who sports a record of 22-0, of the situation. "A gym is what you make of it. We're champions, Brendan and I will move all over and we'll make a champion out of the gym and that's what we've done. We were born and bred in Toowoomba and now this is our base. It doesn't matter where we are - we're going to be champions. That's what it's all about."

Katsidis is a bit of an unknown in what is a pretty deep and marketable lightweight class that includes the 3-Diaz's (Juan, Julio and David), along with mainstay Joel Casamayor and dangerous contenders like Nate Campbell. He figures to throw his hat into the mix very soon.

"At the moment," he would say, "my goal is to fight Czar Amonsot, I don't look any farther. That's what's going to make it a great fight. When I fight that guy he's going to be in for one helluva fight. The next guy after that can expect another helluva fight. You can guarantee who they put me in front of, I'm going to destroy."

Katsidis has the mindset of a gladiator. In fact, part of his ring regalia includes a helmet that looks as if it was once worn in ancient battlefields. It's a part of who he is.




In an era now where boxing, more than ever, needs it's participants to be more like warriors and less like businessmen, Katsidis and his ilk are just what this game needs.

"I believe now it's my time to show new blood in the sport. The sport needs new blood, it needs big, exciting fights. And July 21st, that's what the world's going to see."