Michael Alan Katsidis ( ; ; born 15 August 1980) is an Australian former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017. He held the WBO interim lightweight title twice between 2007 and 2010, and challenged twice for the lineal lightweight title in 2008 and 2010. At the peak of his career in the late 2000s, Katsidis' crowd-pleasing and aggressive pressure fighting style often drew comparisons with the late Arturo Gatti. Amateur career In an amateur career which began at the age of 11, Katsidis compiled a record of 75 wins and 6 losses. During this time he represented the Australian Olympic team in the lightweight division at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. He also attained a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport. 2000 Olympic results First round: defeated Agnaldo Nunes – 15:6 Second round: lost to Nurzhan Karimzhanov – 7:9 Professional career 2001–2007: early years Katsidis made his professional debut on 1 December 2001 by stopping Danny Wilson in the third round for the Queensland lightweight title. In his second fight on 9 March 2002, he won a twelve-round unanimous decision over James Swan for the Australian lightweight championship. He would go on to score another nineteen wins, nearly all by knockout, while amassing a further three lower-level titles: the Australian light-welterweight, WBO Asia Pacific lightweight and IBF Pan Pacific lightweight championships, respectively. In 2001, Katsidis was convicted for assault after getting involved in an altercation with a man and breaking his jaw. Katsidis pleaded not guilty, maintaining self-defence, but was sentenced to eight months in prison between 2002 and 2003, six months of which were spent at the high-security Woodford Correctional Centre north of Brisbane. The conviction later made it difficult for Katsidis to obtain a visa to the United States, which was refused twice in 2005 and 2006. Battle with Earl On 17 February 2007, a bout for the newly created and vacant WBO interim lightweight title was made between Katsidis and Graham Earl at the Wembley Arena in London. In an action-packed and fast-paced fight, Katsidis and Earl went toe-to-toe and traded many heavy blows, during which Earl was knocked down twice in the opening round and again in the second. However, soon after getting back to his feet following the third knockdown and having the towel being thrown in seconds later (only for it to be thrown back out again by referee Mickey Vann),