Saturday night's huge junior welterweight bout between Arturo Gatti and Floyd Mayweather should be a classic match up of boxer versus puncher. But, there seem to be so many other variables going into this fight; on one hand the blood and guts style of Gatti versus the skill and savvy of Mayweather.   Everyone knows what to expect from Floyd, the only question is which Gatti will show up.

    Will it be the old blood and guts Gatti, who fought in so many classic fights, or should I say brawls. Or will it be the Gatti that we have seen under the tutelage of Buddy McGirt. The irony of this fight is that most people believe McGirt is a big reason for the resurrection of Gatti. McGirt turning Gatti into more of a boxer is a big reason for Gatti's resurgence. Most experts would agree it's this change that has made Gatti a world champion again. Yet, most experts believe that if he fights with this newfound style on Saturday night, he will have a hard time beating the slickest and quickest of them all in Floyd Mayweather, Jr. I never thought I would hear people say again that Gatti needs to brawl to win a fight. But, in this case it rings true.

     As solid as Gatti has looked since working with McGirt, most would agree that his speed and boxing
savvy are not up to par with Mayweather's. This is no knock on Gatti, because there is probably not a boxer out there who could beat Mayweather by trying to be quicker than him or by out boxing him. So, what should Gatti do? You guessed it, go back to his younger days and brawl. Most people believe Gatti's chances are a puncher's chance, not by out boxing Floyd and winning a decision. If Gatti truly believes what he has been saying, that Mayweather's chin is suspect, then he needs to pressure Floyd and turn the fight into a brawl. Return to the days when he fought Tracy Patterson, Gabe Ruelas, Wilson Rodriguez, or even Micky Ward, and just constantly pressure Floyd.

    Some in the past compared Mayweather to a smaller Roy Jones Jr., even though Floyd didn't like the comparison. It seemed the way to eventually conquer Roy was to just pressure and smother him, i.e. Roy's fight with Glen Johnson. This might have to be the way Arturo has to go after Mayweather. Buddy McGirt has devised some good game plans in the past, and he will need a good one on Saturday night, because behind all the trash talking and arrogance is a heckuva fighter.

    Another interesting variable in this fight has been the trash talking, though it has been pretty much all Mayweather. Since the fight was announced, Mayweather has been on a constant tirade, bashing Gatti
every chance he gets. Bashing one of the more popular fighters in the sport today doesn't earn a lot of fans. Mayweather has made it hard for anyone watching his tirades to actually like him, and top that off with the fact he's fighting on Gatti's home turf. Mayweather's mouth probably has a lot of fans hoping Gatti can land that one big shot. This is nothing new for Mayweather, he was just as bad going into his big showdown with Diego Corrales, and fought one of the defining fights of his career to date.

    Maybe his mouth fuels him, or maybe Floyd feels he can get into his opponent's head. Gatti for his part has pretty much refrained from firing back, saying he'll let his fists do the talking. This is pretty much vintage old school Gatti. Floyd has even gone so far as drawing black eyes on Gatti on magazine covers during a recent press gathering. Who knows, maybe Floyd is just hyping the fight, or maybe he just has a big mouth, but it will get settled on Saturday.

    Whether it's Thunder and Lightning, old school versus new school, or just boxer versus puncher, Saturday night in Atlantic City will sure be fun to watch.


6-22-2005