FanHouse MichaelKatsidis

By ramping up their promotional efforts for the Sept. 19 Floyd Mayweather vs. Juan Manuel Marquez pay-per-view fight, some might say that HBO and Golden Boy Promotions are going old school. The fight will be shown at 170 movie theaters across the country and available in over 350,000 hotel rooms. Couple that with what seems like an aggressive usage of the Internet, mobile phones and social networking tools to promote the fight, and it's safe to say that they are doing everything in their power to make this event available to as many people as possible.

That's good news for boxing fans. Even better news is that they are finally using a mega-fight to spotlight some fresh, new talent to the masses. So while all those promotional efforts might be effective for one particular fight, the decision to stack this event with a solid undercard may prove to be the smartest decision HBO and Golden Boy ends up making.

When it comes to stories of athletes rising above personal adversity, no sport can match boxing. And of all those stories, there may not be one as compelling as the story of Jesus Chavez.

Born in Mexico, Chavez moved to Chicago at age 5, was convicted of armed robbery at 16 and deported at 20. But with help from his lawyer, Chavez got back to the United States, where he embarked on a pro boxing career whose greatest triumph was tainted by tragedy: Five days after Chavez beat Leavander Johnson in 2005 to win the IBF lightweight title, Johnson died of brain injuries sustained in the fight.

Chavez didn't fight for a year and a half after that, but he's now fighting again, and he has a big fight against Michael Katsidis set for April 4 live on HBO pay-per-view. In an interview, Chavez talked to me about the fight with Katsidis and his turbulent life.

Joel Casamayor has retained his lightweight championship, stopping Michael Katsidis in the 10th round tonight in a tremendous fight in Cabazon, California.

Casamayor knocked Katsidis down twice in the first minute of the first round, catching him with a couple of brutal lefts and looking like he had the opportunity to end the fight in the first, but it would be back-and-forth from there.

Katsidis staggered Casamayor in the fourth round and appeared close to sending him to the canvas, but Casamayor held on to make it out of the round relatively unscathed. In the sixth, Katsidis knocked Casamayor not just down but actually through the ropes, but Casamayor got back up and back in the ring and managed to survive the round.

And then Casamayor changed the momentum of the fight, avoiding Katsidis' onslaught and even doing some damage himself before catching Katsidis with a huge shot at the start of the 10th. Katsidis got back up after that shot, but the fight was stopped moments later.

The referee warned both fighters about illegal blows several times before finally taking a point away from Casamayor for a low blow in the ninth.

Casamayor entered the fight as the Ring Magazine champion and keeps that title, which is the title that is generally recognized by fans and the boxing media. Other fighters have title belts, but Casamayor is the lightweight champion of the world.

The 36-year-old Casamayor, who defected from Cuba just before the 1996 Olympics, improves to 36-3-1 as a professional, with 22 knockouts. Katsidis, a 27-year-old Australian, falls to 23-1.