Katsidis Targets Marquez, Jaw Checks Out Fine (original) (raw)

By Mark Vester

WBO interim-lightweight champion Michael Katsidis thought he might have suffered a broken jaw during last Saturday's decision win over Vicente Escobedo in Las Vegas. During the twelfth round, the jaw of Katsidis was swelling bad and it almost appeared as if a baseball was in his mouth.

Trainer and manager Brendon Smith took Katsidis to the hospital and said his jaw checked out fine.

"We just took precautions and we popped him to the hospital and had a check up, everything is fine, no breaks," Smith to The Daily Telegraph. "His hands have pulled up really good."

Smith expects his fighter to return in 2010 in the United States. They are going to target a fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, the WBO's full lightweight champion. If Marquez turns Katsidis down, then the Aussie fighter would receive the status of full champion.

"I don't think the WBO will want this to drag out too long, so I am sure we will have some news in the near future," Smith said. "Michael is very television friendly with his style," Smith said. "The [Escobedo] fight went all over the world and into American cinemas and we had a very good performance. Even from El Salvador they call him 'the last action hero"'.