With the big Arturo “Thunder” Gatti (39-6, 30 KO’s) and “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather (33-0, 22 KO’s) Pay-Per-View bonanza rapidly approaching, I will take a look at this fight that many fans of the sport are calling a mismatch. Many people believe Mayweather is simply too talented for a fighter the likes of Gatti, people think this is an easy fight for Mayweather; however, this is incorrect and I will explain why this fight will be closer than many people think or than it may appear on paper. 

But first the fighters themselves, in one corner we have Arturo Gatti, the defending WBC Super Lightweight Champion and former IBF Super Featherweight Champion, one of the most popular figures in our sport. Commonly referred to as “The Ultimate Blood and Guts Warrior,” Gatti is known for his heart, his no quit attitude and of course his all-out wars. Despite taking hellacious beatings in several fights over his career, while participating in five wars that earned “Fight of the Year” honors, Gatti continues his career seemingly without any deterioration, always willing to take more. In fact, in his recent fights Gatti has actually shown vast signs of improvement, boxing more than ever before, coupling boxing with his one punch knockout power, Gatti has been very impressive in recent victories, scoring early KO’s against very durable opponents and former World Champions Jesse “James” Lejia and, the previously undefeated, Leonard Dorin. Despite fighting as light as Featherweight early on in his career, Gatti is considered a big, strong Super Lightweight, who has gained as much 19 lbs. in the 24 hours between the weigh in and the beginning of the fight.  

In the other corner we have the challenger, a former Olympic medalist, the immensely talented and, at least to some, quite unlikable Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather, considered by all to be one of the sports Pound-For-Pound elite, is a former champion in two weight classes, having won the WBC title in both the Super Featherweight and Lightweight divisions. With his slick boxing and amazing hand speed, he has drawn comparisons to “Sugar” Ray Leonard; however, Mayweather, 28, does not approve of such comparisons, telling ESPN earlier this year, “As of today, I think I’m the best fighter ever.”  

As true fans and followers of the sport know, boxing is predominately mental and Floyd Mayweather’s biggest weakness is mental, it is his arrogance. Mayweather, who possesses extraordinary physical tools, has predicted a knockout victory over Arturo Gatti. Mayweather reaffirmed his predication last week saying, "he's going to get out boxed easy and then I'm going to stop him, probably under six rounds.” It is this type of blatant arrogance that will make this fight tougher for Mayweather than it has to be. If Mayweather wants his prediction to come to fruition, he will have to fight Gatti, rather than box him at a distance, using his superior speed to hit and avoid being hit. If Mayweather chooses to fight Gatti, the fight could become difficult for him. 

Mayweather, who desperately wants to build a fan base, sometimes decides to fight rather than box, he longs to be an exciting and popular fighter that people love to see. In May of 2004, Mayweather fought DeMarcus Corley, Mayweather’s first fight in the Super Lightweight division, and decided to press the action through much of the fight; in the fourth round Mayweather got caught with a right hook and was hurt badly. Luckily for Mayweather Corley is not a great finisher, as he illustrated more recently in his fight with Miguel Cotto, and he was unable to floor Mayweather, but damage was done and the danger was there. In Gatti, Mayweather is going to see a much stronger and more powerful opponent than he has ever seen before, if Mayweather decides to exchange with Gatti, he will have to be able to take harder punches than he has ever experienced before. Which posses a realistic question, will Mayweather be able to take Gatti’s punch if Gatti can land cleanly? Given the opportunity, will Gatti be able to capture it?

Despite the question of whether Mayweather can take Gatti’s punch, many people, Mayweather included, are suggesting that Mayweather will knock Gatti out. This simply will not happen. There are two main reasons why I feel Mayweather will not score a KO victory over Gatti, 1) Mayweather’s power has greatly diminished as he ascends in weight and 2) Gatti can absorb remarkable punishment.  

After leaving his comfort zone in the Super Featherweight division, Mayweather has fought six times, winning all six bouts but only two by knockout, a knockout rate of 33% with his only knockout victories coming against opponents in Henry Bruseles and Phillip N’Dou, who had been KO’d previously, in a swifter fashion, by less talented opponents. When Mayweather fought at 130 lbs., his KO rate was 74%. Despite what Mayweather might think and tell the world, he simply is not a devastating puncher at 140 lbs. While he does throw beautiful combinations, at the higher weights he is more of a volume puncher and boxer, than a legitimate KO artist.  

Besides Mayweather’s diminishing power, Arturo Gatti possesses a superb chin. In 45 professional fights Gatti has only been TKO’d twice, once against Manfredi, in a fight stopped by the doctor for excessive bleeding,  and the second time when his corner threw in the towel against Oscar de la Hoya, with Gatti still on his feet, in a fight in which Gatti was undersized and overmatched. Although Gatti has been knocked down before, he has always gotten up and I do not see this fight being any different. If Mayweather is able to floor Gatti, he will get up and that might make him all the more dangerous, as in the Wilson Rodriguez fight, when a badly swollen Gatti picked himself up after an early knockdown and went on to score a 6^th round TKO victory.  

Another notion people have is that Mayweather may win the fight early via a doctor’s stoppage due to cuts. The idea that Arturo Gatti cuts easy still looms in the minds of many boxing fans, while in reality Gatti has not been significantly cut in over four years when he fought De la Hoya and has only lost one fight due to excessive bleeding, when he lost to Manfredy nearly seven-and-a-half years ago. The lack of cuts on Gatti’s part of late may be attributed to Gatti’s new and healthier lifestyle. In addition, Gatti has reunited with the premier cut man in the game, Joe Souza, for this fight.  

James “Buddy” McGirt trains Gatti. McGirt, a two-time World Champion in his days as a fighter, has morphed into one of the elite trainers in the world as well as a master strategist. McGirt was the mastermind behind Antonio Tarver’s stunning second round KO victory over Roy Jones. Under McGirt, Gatti has refined his boxing skills, becoming more dangerous than the brawling version of Gatti we saw in his younger days ever was. In his seven fights with McGirt, Gatti is 6-1 with 3 KO’s; his only loss, to Micky Ward, was avenged twice in dominant fashion. Under McGirt, Gatti’s footwork has been fine-tuned and his accuracy, and the quality, along with the quantity, of jabs thrown have increased drastically. While Mayweather’s speed is superior to Gatti’s, it has been proven that the best way to beat speed is with a good stiff jab, which is how Vernon Forrest negated Shane Mosley’s exceptional speed en route to two unanimous decisions. While I do not believe Gatti can control the fight with his jab, if he uses it effectively it will go a long way in disrupting Mayweather’s flurry filled attacks, in turn helping his defense and helping him control the pace of the fight.  

With the fight just days away and excitement building, I believe we are on the cusp of seeing a fight that could be one for the ages. While I believe this will be a highly competitive fight, I do anticipate Floyd Mayweather will use his superior boxing skills in the end to pull out a twelve round decision. However, I will be stunned if it is the easy night Mayweather and many boxing fans are anticipating and I would not be shocked if Gatti pulls off the upset. While these two fighters clearly are not of the same caliber, I expect a bout closer to one of the epic wars “Sugar” Ray Robinson and Jake LaMotta shared, than a blowout, and without a doubt, bigger upsets happen in our sport. Regardless of the outcome, I am confident boxing fans everywhere will come out victorious.  
 
6-20-2005