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NEW BLOOD and LOTS OF BLOOD |
 ARTURO GATTI ...the end has come at last! |
Welterweights rule the
modern prizefight world
of TheColumnists.com
Grinning with either embarrassment or pride, Arturo "Thunder" Gatti announced his retirement from the prize ring on HBO last Saturday night after being taken apart and kayoed in seven rounds by Alfonso Gomez, the first graduate of "The Contenders" TV series to actually resemble The Real McCoy--an authentic contender.
For Gatti, the end to his glorious career as boxing's most popular slugger certainly wasn't anything to grin about. For one thing, his lip had been slashed and was bleeding profusely, despite a large bandage that added to the grotesquery of his battered features. There was so much blood on him that he looked like he'd been tap-dancing in an abattoir.
To suffer his ninth loss (against 40 wins) in such a humiliating fashion from a young fighter not generally considered to be anything special had to be extra embarrassing. Gatti was never in the fight--and it was his third consecutive loss by knockout. As he explained rather candidly to HBO's Max Kellerman before heading to the hospital for repairs, "I don't need to take this kind of abuse anymore."
It was an especially sad moment for all of us who have been diehard Gatti fans. The Italian-born fighter, who grew up in Canada, then settled in New Jersey to become the ring idol of millions, has been the best of the best in terms of courage, heart and capacity for surprising us when defeat seemed imminent. His three see-saw battles with Irish Mickey Ward are quite simply the greatest slugging matches I've ever seen, each of them pegged as "the fight of the year" by scores of experts.
For what turned out to be his final fight, Gatti recruited Mickey Ward to serve as his trainer. Ever since their immortal combats, Gatti and Ward have become bosom buddies. They have so much respect for each other that they would trust each other with their lives. Ward got Gatti into tremendous shape, but he couldn't erase the damage of all those ring wars, which, combined with Gatti's age (35) made him an easy target for the bigger, younger Gomez.
Gatti told Kellerman that he never should have moved up to the welterweight division (147 pounds), where the world's best fighters currently vie, but had no choice because he no longer could make the weight in the 140-pound division where he was a champion.
Gatti's swan song came as the middle attraction of a three-bout HBO welterweight extravaganza that displayed why this division is now the fiercest and most competitive of them all. There are four welterweight champions and a host of major contenders. One of them is unbeaten Floyd Mayweather, Jr., who may be the best fighter in the world at any weight. Mayweather has announced his retirement, but is believed to be looking for another gigantic payday like the one he earned while beating Oscar De La Hoya earlier this year and taking his junior middleweight crown. Mayweather is rumored to want to return to the lower weight class, where he feels most comfortable. De La Hoya, perhaps the greatest attraction in boxing today, is also planning to return to welterweight for his next fight.
In the meantime, two new champions were crowned in the other bouts on Saturday night's HBO card. Both winners were extremely impressive. Kermit Cintron, a rangy power-puncher whose record now stands at 28-1 with 26 of his wins by knockout, literally extinguished tough, hard-punching Walter Matthysse of Argentina to win the IBF welterweight title. Antonio Margarito of Mexico, the only man to ever beat Cintron, lost his WBO welterweight title Saturday night when he was closely outpointed by newcomer Paul "The Punisher" Williams, who remains unbeaten at 33-0 with 24 of his wins by kayo.
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...new WBO welterweight champ and a dangerous new contender for unified champ |
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Margarito is definitely still in the picture among welterweights--a man so versatile and so tough that even Mayweather has refused to fight him. But Williams, a freakishly tall 6-1 for a 147-pounder, is a smart southpaw puncher with amazing hand speed and the conditioning to go 12 fast rounds against anyone. His bout with Margarito proved how tough a contender he is. I gave him the first six rounds, then gave Margarito the next five, meaning Williams absolutely had to outclass the champ in the final round to win the bout--and that's exactly what he did.
Margarito was scheduled to face the other most feared champion, Miguel Cotto, in a bout to unify their titles. Now Margarito's defeat kills that bout, but Cotto will need to face one of these tough characters soon. Still waiting for another title shot is former champion Shane Mosley, an all-around boxer-puncher who could give any of the current champs lots of trouble. And who can blame Gomez from "The Contender" for hoping his impressive destruction of Arturo Gatti will get him right into the middle of this welterweight title fight bonanza?
The HBO bouts were all exciting and dramatic and bloody, showing us some of the best new contenders in the welterweight division while bringing us the sad, poignant farewell of Gatti, one of the greatest champions of all time. You can't ask for anything better than that.
©2007 by Ron Miller. This column first posted July 16, 2007.
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