Marquez stops Katsidis, demands third Pacquiao fight

LAS VEGAS, (Reuters) – Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez   recovered from a third round knockdown to stop Australian  Michael Katsidis in the ninth and retain his WBA and WBO  lightweight titles in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Immediately after the victory, Marquez called for a third  fight with eight-weight world champion Manny Pacquiao of the  Philippines. Pacquiao and Marquez drew their first bout in  2004, and Pacquiao won a split decision in a rematch four  years later.

“We know Pacquiao is avoiding us,” said Marquez   afterwards.

“A third fight is what the public wants.”

After a fast-paced opening two rounds, in which Mexican  Marquez landed blistering counter combinations as his  Australian challenger pressed forward, Katsidis, 27-3 (22 KOs)  dropped Marquez in round three with a short left hook.

The champion appeared badly hurt but was able to survive  the onslaught and by the end of the round was troubling his  opponent with pinpoint punches to body and head.

Katsidis continued to swarm forward aggressively, throwing  a high volume of punches, but Marquez, 52-5-1 (38 KOs) responded with devastatingly accurate counters.

In the ninth, Marquez stepped up the pressure, landing   with combinations and backing Katsidis across the ring. As  Marquez continued to land at will, referee Kenny Bayless  called a halt to the contest.

Katsidis was fighting despite the death of his brother,  Stathi, last month. Stathi, a professional jockey, was found  dead in his Brisbane home on October 19 from as yet  undisclosed causes.

“I went through a lot to make it to this fight,” Katsidis  admitted afterward.

“It was a hard thing to even make it   through this fight,” he added tearfully.

Earlier, in Oakland, undefeated American Andre Ward   retained his WBA super middleweight title with a unanimous  decision victory over Cameroon-born Sakio Bika.

Ward, 23-0 (13 KOs) won every round on one scorecard and  ten of twelve on the other two, but despite the wide margins,  the victory was hard fought.

At the end of the contest, both fighters were bleeding   from cuts by the eyes, and Bika, 28-5-2 (19 KOs) also from the  nose.

Ward next meets Arthur Abraham in the semi-finals of the  “Super Six” World Boxing Classic super middleweight tournament.

Earlier on Saturday, Germany-based Armenian Abraham lost a   wide decision in Helsinki to Britain’s Carl Froch, who   regained the WBC title and will face Jamaican Glen Johnson in   the other semi-final.