The Neutral Corner

By Marcus Henry

Talk of Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao, Roy Jones vs. Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins vs. Kelly Pavlik has dominated the boxing world lately.

Are they all marquee fights? Of course they are. But there are several other fights brewing that the boxing world needs to pay attention to.

The most underrated fight of this year could happen this Saturday when Australian lightweight sensation Michael Katsidis (23-1, 20 KO’s) takes on Juan Diaz (33-1, 17 KO’s). The co-feature of the Katsidis-Diaz card features Rocky Juarez against Jorge Barrios. Both fights will be aired on HBO's Boxing After Dark beginning at 10:15 p.m.

The Katsidis-Diaz fight is interesting as both fighters are coming off losses. Katsidis suffered a 10th-round TKO to Joel Casamayor, while Diaz lost a split decision to Nate Campbell. The fight is more important than most think as Katsidis is looking to establish himself as a world-class fighter.

Don’t let Katsidis’ loss to Casamayor fool you. He was knocked down twice in the first round and once in the 10th. But he showed some resilience as he put Casamayor on the floor in the sixth. It’s a must-win for Katsidis, who needs to prove he is ready for the big time.

A win against Diaz could put him in line with a date with one of several quality lightweights, including Pacquiao and Campbell, who holds the WBA, WBO and IBF lightweight titles.

Speaking of Campbell (32-5-1, 25 KO’s) he has a pretty big fight on September 13 against Joan Guzman. Guzman (28-0, 17 KO’s) turned heads with a solid win against Humberto Soto in November. A win against Guzman would all but etch Campbell in stone as the top lightweight contender. Pacquiao is still the best lightweight, but there’s no telling if he will return to the division after his bout with De La Hoya.

We can’t forget about the Sergio Mora-Vernon Forrest WBA junior middleweight title fight and the Joel Casamayor (36-3, 22 KO's) vs. Juan Manuel Marquez (48-4, 35 KO's) co-feature set for September 13 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Forrest (40-3, 29 KO’s) is looking to avenge a June loss to Mora (21-0, 5 KO’s), while Marquez will try to bounce back from his loss to Pacquiao. Both fights can be seen on HBO's PPV beginning at 9 p.m.