Arturo is probably my favorite boxer
active today. What tremendous fights he has given boxing
fans. The trilogy with Micky Ward and his wars with Wilson
Rodriguez and Gabe Ruelas, etc... He is a warrior in every
sense of the word.
As much as I like Arturo I feel he has -without a doubt-
reached the end of the line after being defeated by Alfonso
Gomez. This was a fight that Arturo was not supposed to
lose.. Gatti could expect a tough fight but he was expected
to go out a winner. To me Gomez is a naturally talented
boxer with a great personality. He really won over the fans
on the " Contender " show. Still I thought he had
limitations and I really didn't think he could beat Arturo
Gatti. Not even a fading version of Gatti. Whatever Gomez
could do, Arturo could do better. Every match up, jab, hand
speed, power, defense and ring generalship, all favored
Arturo. This is not a knock against Gomez who can be quite a
clever boxer when he chooses to. Gomez also has some sting
to his punches and is better defensively than he is given
credit for. He just does not do these things as well as
Arturo. Or so I thought. I also thought Gatti had the edge
in heart because of his proven track record against world
class opposition. Gomez though had shown great heart in his
performances too.
How did I see the fight coming out? I saw Gatti winning it .
I envisioned him busting Gomez up early with his jab and
sharp counterpunches. He might even knock Alfonso down but I
doubted if he would be able to keep the gutsy Gomez on the
canvas. I felt midway through the fight there would be some
wild exchanges as Arturo may get careless in his eagerness
to put Gomez away. Finally Gatti would settle down and get
back to his game plan, chopping Gomez up with stinging rapid
fire combinations.
It would be a nice payday and swan song for the most
exciting boxer of this era, Arturo Gatti. Boy was I ever
wrong. Arturo was handed a good old fashioned whipping by
Gomez. Was Gomez that good or had Arturo slipped more than I
realized? This remains to be seen. No doubt that Gomez has
stepped up. How far he will go remains to be seen. It is now
painfully obvious though that Arturo Gatti has reached the
end of line. He may not have gone out a winner but he'll
always be remembered as a great warrior by the fans. Goodbye
Arturo...
