Diaz-Katsidis a potential classic

Juan Diaz and Michael Katsidis each lost their last bout, but, in a strange way, boxing fans have turned out to be the winners.

Because if Diaz had retained his WBA, WBO and IBF lightweight title belts in March when he faced Nate Campbell in Cancun, Mexico, he probably wouldn’t be meeting Katsidis at the Toyota Center in Houston on Saturday in a bout that will be nationally televised on HBO.

And if Katsidis had not been stopped by Ring lightweight champion Joel Casamayor in their bout two weeks later, he, too, would likely have gone in a different direction.

Thankfully, they did not, because Saturday’s bout has the potential to be as entertaining as any that has been contested in the 135-pound division since the epic first match between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo in 2005.

Diaz and Katsidis have the kind of styles, if not the power, that could evoke memories of that fabled fight.

Corrales-Castillo I was a savage, often brutal affair pitting two men who refused to back up, were willing to take two to land one and who were desperate for victory.

If that also sounds like a description of what the Diaz-Katsidis fight might be like, you’re not alone.

A large, presumably bloodthirsty crowd, will fill the Toyota Center. The ratings on HBO figure to be much better than normal for a comparable card.

That's largely because Diaz and Katsidis are two of the better offensive fighters in the game and are in desperate need of a victory.

There are few better, more grounded people in the sports world than Diaz, who is as soft-spoken and amiable outside the ring as he is fierce and rugged inside. He's studying to be an attorney, uses the words "sir" and "ma'am" as a regular part of his vocabulary and is the kind of guy you dream your daughter happens to meet.

His life seemed like a fairy tale, at least until his last outing. He gained considerable notoriety for his affable manner and his rags to riches climb into an elite world champion.

Diaz won his first 33 pro fights, held three of the four major lightweight title belts and had cracked the Yahoo! Sports rankings of the world's finest boxers.

But prior to his title defense against Campbell on March 8 in a bullring in Cancun, Mexico, Diaz' manager, Willie Savannah, ran afoul of promoter Don King. Savannah may be one of the few men in boxing as strong-willed as King, but Savannah lacks King's gift for oration and his bully pulpit.

When King realized about a month before that bout with Campbell that Savannah was not going to allow Diaz to re-sign with him, King embarked on a campaign to, what he called, educate the media on all he had done for Diaz.

To that extent, King had several large placards printed that touted the career achievements Diaz had made while fighting for King. He put them on large easels at both the final pre-fight news conference and at the weigh-in.

As he was introducing Diaz at the news conference, King harangued Savannah as Diaz and Savannah sat stone-faced several feet away.

Diaz insisted before the fight the controversy would not impact him, but it clearly did. Campbell fought the fight of his life and deserves credit for the way he kept a high pace throughout, but the Diaz who wilted down the stretch that day was not the same man who had earned so much respect with his volume-punching and ability to rise his game in the second half of a fight.

Now, coming off a hard-to-take loss, he faces a modern-day Arturo Gatti in Katsidis. He's so aggressive, he seems like he's going to throw punches during the pre-fight introductions. He's not big on style or technique, but he makes up for that with his ability to dole out incredible amounts of punishment.

But he comes into Saturday's bout diminished, as well. He was unexpectedly knocked down twice in the first round of his March 22 bout against Casamayor, who at the time of that fight was viewed as a once-great champion who was ripe for the picking.

Katsidis recovered enough to control the middle portion of the fight, but then was stopped when he got careless in the 11th.

A similar loss to Casamayor three or four years ago would have been viewed much differently than it is now. Casamayor is 37 and no longer the elite fighter he was when he was 27.

The bout with Katsidis was widely viewed as a way to help put Katsidis over with a public that was unfamiliar with him but which knew Casamayor intimately.

Now, the two men meet in something of a crossroads bout. The stakes are so high and each man so intense that it almost can't help becoming a Fight of the Year-caliber match.

There are no titles involved and nothing at stake other than pride.

Usually, that's what makes the best fights.