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 Gatti Knocks Out Dorin in Two; Leija Stuns Bojado
 By Thomas Gerbasi (July 24, 2004)
Photos © Patt Orr
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It was a moment Micky Ward would have been proud of, as a single left hook to the liver suddenly ended Arturo Gatti’s WBC super lightweight title defense against Leonard Dorin in the second round, allowing “Thunder” to not only retain his title before a packed house at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, but end a fight without shedding any blood.
“It’s more than a victory to me not going to the hospital after the fight,” laughed Gatti, who improves to 38-6 with 29 KOs. Dorin, a former lightweight champion suffered his first defeat, falling to 22-1-1 with 8 KOs.
 Living up to his vow of implementing the finer points of the sweet science, and not street fighting, Gatti boxed effectively in the opening two rounds, using his jab and movement to keep the aggressive Dorin out of serious punching range.
Yet midway through the second, Dorin started to land his left hook, prompting Gatti to fire back with more serious firepower. That was a mistake for Dorin, who was sent to the canvas with a perfectly placed left hook to the body.
“I knew that he had a good guard and that he keeps his hands up a lot, so his body was wide open,” said Gatti.
Hunched over in pain on the floor, Dorin went from one knee to both, and it was obvious that he was not going to get up, ending the bout suddenly and shockingly at 2:55 of the second round.
“I lured him to a good body shot,” said Gatti. “I put everything into that left hook.”
And somewhere in Boardwalk Hall, Ward, the brutal bodypuncher who went 30 hard rounds with Gatti, smiled.
In the HBO World Championship Boxing co-feature, 38-year-old veteran Jesse James Leija showed he still had plenty of gas in the tank as he survived a second round knockdown to outhustle 21-year-old prospect Francisco Bojado over ten junior welterweight rounds.
The split decision for Leija read 96-93, 95-94, and 94-95.
Leija went on the offensive early, and his varied attack paid off as he peppered Bojado with lefts and especially rights. Bojado stayed cool, keeping his hands raised as he shot in the occasional body blow.
Bojado upped his output in the second, and he appeared to jar Leija with a hook in the second minute of the round. Seconds later, another left hook dumped the veteran on the seat of his pants, but Leija quickly rose, apparently unhurt.
Obviously faster than Leija, Bojado came out ahead in the brief exchanges between the two, but the Texan continued to stay active against his younger foe, even landing a good hook to the body in the final minute that got Bojado’s attention.
After a slow first half of round four, both fighters let their hands go at close quarters, fighting to an inconclusive result, but by the end of the frame, Leija was the more active of the two and he scored well with both hands to the body.
Leija kept pounding Bojado to the body in the fifth, and the 21-year-old’s work rate dipped considerably.
In the sixth, Bojado resorted to movement strategy-wise as Leija continued to play the role of aggressor. In the final minute Bojado finally started throwing and landing some punches, but with little effect on Leija, who kept the pressure on with his hands and feet.
The seventh round was all Leija, as he spent most of the round pounding Bojado, whose back was pinned against the ropes for much of the stanza.
Attempting to turn the tide, Bojado picked up the pace in the eighth as he effectively tagged Leija with scoring blows. But Leija kept moving forward, shooting in straight punches that kept the Guadalajara native from getting too confident.
Battling it out at close quarters in the ninth, Leija again amazed with his resilience as Bojado tried to get a rhythm going in the late stages of the bout. In the final minute, Bojado started to land more solidly as he closed the round strong.
The action was heated in the tenth as both fighters stood in the pocket and threw their best at each other, with Leija’s straight shots getting there sooner than Bojado’s faster hooks – which ended up being the story of the bout.
With the win, Leija, a former world champion, improves to 47-6-2 with 19 KOs. Bojado suffered his second career loss, falling to 16-2 with 11 KOs.
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E-Mail Thomas Gerbasi at tgerbasi@mindspring.com
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