When ACHILLES met HECTOR in the ring

Katsidis was, as his name tells us, poised as "the great" prospect. A possible big-name in a division that lacks personalities. There isn't one name in that division inside anybody's pound-for-pound list - Casamayor, the Diazes, Morales, Frietas...no one. Katsidis is being groomed as one part of the battle for the next lightweight sensation, with Baby Bull Diaz, another undefeater and exciting fighter being the other. Wow, I just can imagine people salivating over the possibility of that happening. Two great and exciting warriors with undefeted records squaring off for bragging rights as the division's best. As early as after Baby Bull's dismantling of Frietas, I'm sure both camps are hot into negotiations for that fight to happen.

Czar Amonsot was supposed to be a tune-up fight. No-one gave him a chance to win but the Filipinos. He's the perfect sacrificial lamb - good enough record, low KO percentage and KO-able. The boxing gods had it all planned for the Katsidis-Diaz fight, Katsidis even talked about it during the Katsidis-Amonsot press conference - they simply didn't give Amonsot a chance to win this fight. Amonsot NEEDED to KO Katsidis to win. He won't win over Katsidis via decision because that would derail plans for a future mega-buck fight between Katsidis and Diaz. The Judges, the referee, hell even the

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if you look at it closely are all on the take, to ensure a believeable win for Katsidis the great.

What they didn't count on is the fact that Amonsot is in the greatest shape of his life and it showed during the fight. He's strong enough to cut Katsidis face into a mess, strong enough to get up from being hit with Katsidis' best shots and strong enought to last the whole 12 rounds throwing punches and standing toe to toe in front of "the great". But like I said, Amonsot needed to KO Katsidis to win. No way are the judges and big names working behind the scenes going to give Amonsot that title and that blemish in Katsidis perfect record on a silver platter. You got to hand it to Katsidis though, he's one of the toughest hombres I've seen in boxing in quite a while. He took everything Amonsot gave and never buckled. He reminded me of the Korean fighters...hit em with haymakers and they keep on coming, bloody them up and they keep on ticking. Katsidis is of the same mold,- solid jaw, granite chin and all. But what the jaw could take, the skin can't, and by the middle rounds, Katsidis face was lacerated like crazy. I was like watching WWF with the Undertaker giving Mankind a bloody face mask, only thing that's different is in Katsidis case, we could see where all that blood was coming from. And from the close-ups the camera gave us, those cuts are not just 2-inch scratches, those were deep 30-inch lacerations over the eyelid. Now, a number of high-profile fights before have been stopped before on lesser lacerations over the eye, and Katsidis didn't have one but three lacerations on that left eyelid. He also had a 2-3 inch laceration on the right cheek - proof that Amonsot hit him with punches that could have put a lesser man down. But Katsidis was still fighting and he was winning! Giving Amonsot as much, if not more leather as he took.

The Doctor can't stop the fight, Katsidis would lose, and if that happens it was his head on the line. The ref even stopped the fight at one point, warning Amonsot for headbutting when the replay clearly showed that it was Katsidis bumping Amonsot. Was the ref trying to make it appear as though the cuts resulted from a headbutt? Possible. For if the fight was stopped, everything would go to the scorecards and of course, we know who'd win. Hell, he even ruled a flash knockdown by Amonsot a slip!
The boxing gods, the bookies, the mafia - they had a lot riding on this and the doctor knows that he'd be in very grave danger if he stopped that fight. Katsidis had to win, Katsidis-Diaz has to happen and Amonsot had to play his role as sacrificial lamb.

It took 25 stiches to fix Katsidis' face...Pacman's gash after the first Morales fight took 6 stiches...now imagine how big those gashes are. Amonsot had to take repeated CAT scans and

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tests just to make sure he didn't suffrer any head trauma/blood clot, and rumors even spread that the Nevada State Athletic Commission already suspended Amonsot's boxing license because of rumors of brain clots - an obvious hype of Katsidis punching power. Small price to pay for a Katsidis-Diaz fight? yeah right.

Nevertheless, the fight wasn't as bad as it seemed. Katsidis came dressed as Achilles in that fight and indeed he proved to be a great warrior, and Amonsot proved to be his Hector - respected even in defeat. The lightweight division didn't just win another big name that night. It won two. And it got fight of the year to boot.