The fight has drawn criticism in the UK, where there is concern Earl is well past his best and lost the ability to take any punishment in the ring. — Phil Lutton
“It’s a risky one for both fighters and you could say it’s one they shouldn’t have. But we need a reason why – there’s risk in every fight. We’re sending a doctor over and if he [Earle] passes that, we can’t see any reason why it shouldn’t go ahead,”. ANBF president Jim Young
There will be no trilogy—Michel Katsidis
In a rematch of their classic 5-round 2007 war and with tensions running high at the press conference, Michael “The Great” Katsidis’ (30-6) battered, pummeled and bloodied Graham “The Duke of” Earl (26-5) from pillar to post on his way to a lopsided UD in Toowoomba, Australia on Friday. The scores were 120-108, 120-109, and 119-109 as Katsidis claimed the vacant WBF belt (German version).
Earl came out of a five year retirement to take this bout and surprised many observers by going the route without being decked but he offered little while taking a pounding against the relentless Aussie who came back after 2 years and MRI CAT SCAN results (that showed he had scarring of the brain) to stop Eddy Comaro in March 2014.Clearly, this was a dangerous fight for both men. There are comebacks and there are comebacks, but this one was different. In the end, the message for Earle was definitive and harsh; most comebacks end up being an exercise in embarrassment and even ignominy
The Danger
However, the underlying danger here is that since Katsidis won in a convincing manner, he will continue to fight-on; he has even called out Adrien Broner. But this could be a lose-lose, as Michael is nowhere near the brawler he was a few years back and he needs to come to that painful realization. The fact he could not floor a totally shot Earle affirms this observation.
While the Toowoomba boxer hopes to use this win to jump back up the world standings, he has lost four of his past six fights dating back to 2010. The fact is, this win could end up being a loss. What Team Katsidis should be doing is to craft an exit strategy that combines some decent paydays with plenty of dignity.
