|
 Appreciating Arturo Gatti
 By Thomas Gerbasi (June 26, 2004)
 Send this page to friend Give us your feedback
Where do you start when talking about Arturo Gatti? How do you discuss the most exciting fighter of this era without falling into the trap of using clichés that would be deemed too corny for Hollywood? And though words like warrior, blood and guts, heart, and courage flow with reckless abandon (much like the best of Gatti’s body of work), it doesn’t seem to be enough to describe one of the rare fighters who has never disappointed the paying folks – never.
"You guys know what I’m all about. I come to fight every fight." – Arturo Gatti
Until his 1995 junior lightweight title shot against Tracy Patterson, the Montreal-born Gatti operated under the mainstream radar. Sure, he had the gaudy 23-1 record and a USBA title, but it wasn’t until HBO subscribers saw him bleed, fight half-blind and pull out a decision win over Patterson, that the casual boxing fan saw Gatti as a fighter they didn’t want to watch – but one they needed to watch.
HBO saw the same type of potential in the good-looking kid with the easy smile and fiery fists, and they had him back in action four months after the Patterson fight against an unknown challenger named Wilson Rodriguez. It was a showcase fight, plain and simple, the type of bout that would be competitive for a few rounds until Gatti showed his superior class, got rid of Rodriguez and set himself up for another big TV fight against a higher caliber of opponent.
Well, Gatti did get by Rodriguez, but not before being knocked down and rendered nearly blind by his swelling eyes. Who could forget Gatti removing his hand from his eyes as the ringside doctor asked him how many fingers he had up, trying to keep himself in the fight for one more round? And each round, as Gatti ate leather from Rodriguez, he kept moving forward, tilting his head to see, to get an angle on the man intent on taking his title. And just when the drama couldn’t get anymore dramatic, a single left hook put Rodriguez down and out.
Just like that, in under 18 minutes of fighting, Gatti was a star.
"I laugh sometimes at how tough the fights are, but when I’m in there it doesn’t seem as tough as when I watch it" – Gatti
With back-to-back highlight reel-quality bouts under his belt, Gatti already had enough big fights on his resume to ensure a career full of television appearances and decent purses. And if you look down the records of the top fighters in the world, you see a couple of fights that stick out among the bunch, fights that you would not hesitate to pull out of your tape collection to watch on one of those lazy days when you’ve got a boxing jones. Most fighters get a couple, maybe three, rarely four. Gatti has at least nine – nine fights that could easily be placed in a time capsule to show future generations what a fight was. Not a boxing match, not a skillful display of the sweet science, but a fight, a meeting of wills in which two man battled to the brink to gain victory.
And Gatti lived on that brink, fighting each fight as if it were his last. And each time he did, it seemed like it would be.
"I’m always prepared for the worst." - Gatti
On October 4, 1997, fresh off a rematch victory over Patterson that saw Gatti show his underrated boxing skills, "Thunder" got another fight perceived as a gimme against Gabriel Ruelas. Sure, Ruelas had the credentials as a former world champion, but he was also coming off a win over Jimmy Garcia that saw Garcia die shortly after the bout, and a subsequent listless loss to Azumah Nelson. To most, Ruelas didn’t have the heart for the game anymore after the Garcia fight.
Most were wrong.
"It’s not easy. Some of the fights you think you’re going to be okay with, you’re like, ‘oh my God.’ It’s very, very tough to watch." – Gatti’s manager Pat Lynch
Ruelas, faced with an opponent that didn’t mind getting hit twice to land once, obliged Gatti, hitting him early and often. Again, Gatti was behind, hurt, and bruised. And unlike most fighters, who use their best poker faces to hide the pain, Gatti shows his hurt each time. He is truly everyman – not a superman.
But as soon as his luck appeared to run out, Gatti started to break through Ruelas’ armor. Fortunately for all fight fans, while Ruelas’ armor was cracking, his resolve wasn’t, and he kept firing back – until once again, a left hook that began somewhere in Jersey City found its destination on Ruelas’ chin, and the fight was over.
"Well, I don’t see the daylight because my eyes are swelled up." – Gatti on the morning after most of his fights
It was another classic, another Fight of the Year award for the mantle, and another spell of recovery, a tough gig for any fighter after a tough fight, but an almost impossible cross to bear on a fight to fight basis. Gatti never made life easy for himself in the ring, regardless of whether he was facing King Kong or Little Bo Peep.
That catches up to anyone, and it caught up to Gatti in 1998, when he lost three fights in a row.
"People go, 'oh, he was in such a great fight,' and I say, 'yeah, for you guys it's a great fight. But not for me. This is my blood. His blood is my blood.' I was there at a lot of his fights with tears." – Gatti’s brother, Joe
If you were any sort of Arturo Gatti fan, if you cared anything about the well-being of a fellow human being, you wanted ‘The Human Highlight Film’ to pack it up after the year of 1998. He was dropped and stopped on cuts against Angel Manfredy, and decisioned twice by Ivan Robinson. Both fighters were solid contenders, but not up there with the champions of the time – in other words, if Gatti couldn’t get past them, he was not to be considered world class anymore.
Against Robinson, Gatti engaged in two more classic brawls, and in the waning moments of the first fight, he almost had ‘Mighty Ivan’ on the verge of a knockout loss. But by the second fight, Gatti had given up on any semblance of defense, had started believing his press clippings, and just walked in recklessly, trying to KO with Robinson with one blow as he kept his hands at his side, allowing the Philadelphian to hit him at will. No matter how much you liked a good ol’ blood and guts brawl, it was disturbing, and it wasn’t sport anymore.
"Never in my mind did I doubt or want to quit or give up." – Gatti
An eight-month break ensued, followed by three easy KO wins over guys like overmatched Reyes Munoz and Marty Jakubowski, and an undersized Joey Gamache. Gatti traveled home to Montreal in September of 2000 to survive a badly cut eye to decision Joe Hutchinson, and then he was drubbed again, this time as a welterweight to Oscar De La Hoya in 2001.
It was over. The comebacks had ended, the miracles had ceased, and the highlights were few and far between. It was a good run, but in the interest of safety, it would be best if Arturo Gatti just went away to enjoy retirement.
"I was erased from the boxing world for a while." – Gatti
After the De La Hoya fight, the break was ten months, two more months than the last break, two more months to fully evaluate what he was doing with his life and his career. And like a fighter, Gatti wanted to make one more run at the brass ring – he wanted another world title – a big money fight – a redemption.
He didn’t do it in a cavalier fashion – he reinvented himself and looked bluntly at where he had been and what he was doing. He got himself in shape again, got an ex-champion - Buddy McGirt – to remind him that it was not a sin to elude a punch and/or use a jab in lieu of a lead left hook, and against Terronn Millett in January of 2002, he showed that he was still a viable contender.
But was he still the action hero that would put any silver screen star to shame? Was he still must-see TV, or just another boxer-puncher with a savage past and a reformed outlook?
Three wars with Micky Ward answered that question, and after 30 rounds of brutality, the names Gatti and Ward were not only linked forever, but also became a verb to describe the act of leaving everything in the ring for the sake of sport. Even more startling than the savagery was the fact that the two became good friends after the trilogy.
"The only problem I have is that when the phone rings, I shadowbox; just kidding." - Gatti
Arturo Gatti emerged from his three bouts with Ward as a folk hero once again, this time to a new generation of fight fans. But while he recklessly charged into every fight with no regard for his safety the first time around, this time he wants to make things right – for not only his fans, but for himself, and for his legacy.
In his first bout post-Ward, Gatti took on a tougher than expected Gianluca Branco in January. After suffering through the requisite swellings and injured hand, he decisioned Branco and finally had his second world title. On July 24, he will defend it against light hitting volume puncher Leonard Dorin in a bout that should disappoint no one.
After that, it’s big money wherever he hopes to look – whether it’s Floyd Mayweather Jr., Kostya Tszyu, or Ricky Hatton – and Gatti should get his big fight, his pay-per-view fight, and win, lose, or draw, walk into the sunset.
If anyone has earned it, he has.
So say what you will about Arturo Gatti, one thing is clear – you can take nine fistic lives, 17 HBO appearances, a pint of blood, two swollen eyes, one broken hand, four trips to the canvas, and you’ve got at least a million satisfied customers.
That’s quite a legacy for any fighter.
Discuss this Topic - Go to the forums
E-Mail Thomas Gerbasi at tgerbasi@mindspring.com
|
