As soon as the fight went to the scorecards, Calvin Kattar knew he could be in trouble.
The Methuen fighter went the distance with Don Carlo-Clauss at XCFL's first event on Feb. 6. And he had reason to be worried.
In the end, Kattar lost a split decision, just the second loss in the budding star's career.
"I did just enough to lose," said Kattar, who fell to 8-2. "I had opportunities to score with the judges and wasn't able to do it. He had a key takedown in the second round that might have been the difference. I want to take nothing away from him, because he won the fight, but I didn't perform the way I need to. I lost.
"I'm not upset with the judges. I didn't do enough to win the fight. There were times in the fight I could have been more aggressive and should have been more aggressive but I wasn't."
Kattar took the fight with just two weeks notice, after his original opponent, T.J. Solomon, backed out. But Kattar refuses to use the change in opponent as an excuse.
"He only had two weeks to prepare to fight me too," he said. "And he won the fight."
They'll be no rest for Kattar, who will step back in the cage on March 26 at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium for XCFL 2. The schedule doesn't get any easier, either. Kattar will fight undefeated (8-0) ICE champion Jeff Anderson, who hails from Pennsylvania.
The loss to Carl-Clauss was named "Fight of the Night" by XCFL.
"We wanted to try and do a rematch," said Kattar. "But (Carlo-Clauss) has another fight lined up. If the opportunity ever came again to fight him, I would. It would be a great fight. Our first fight was a great fight. It wasn't the result I wanted but we really put on a show for the fans."
And Kattar's fans, who have a rabid reputation of pouring out in the hundreds, sometimes thousands, to watch their fighter, should make for a unique atmosphere in Lowell.
"It will be crazy," Kattar said. "After a loss, I always just want to get back into the cage and fight again. You learn something from all of your fights, but especially losses. I won five in a row after my first loss; now I want to double that. I can't wait to get back in the cage, close to home, in front of some screaming people."
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