Last night on HBO we saw Arturo Gatti deliver the excitement yet again with a knockout over veteran and former champion Jesse James Leija. Gatti was simply too stiff of a task for Leija to handle and never appeared in danger of losing the contest. Gatti used his boxing skills to set up a crushing right hand to floor the San Antonio native and followed that up moments later with a jarring left hook that ended matters at 1:48 of the 5th round.

On the undercard we saw Kassim ‘The Dream’ Ouma pound out a unanimous decision win over rugged Accra, Ghana native Kofi Jantuah. Jantuah came out blazing early but saw his fire put out by Ouma’s relentless aggression and endless work rate. Scores were 118-110, 116-112, and 117-111 as Ouma successfully defended his IBF Jr. Middleweight belt. It was another solid card from HBO and there were things that stood out to me about both Gatti and Ouma’s performances.

Ouma-Jantuah was a good fight; I was really impressed with Kassim. Jantuah was a much bigger puncher than Ouma but Kassim was able to adapt to that. What impressed me the most was that Ouma was tireless; he was in Jantuah’s face all night long. That type of conditioning is special. Ouma reminds me a bit of Aaron Pryor, another fighter who is just continuously on you the whole night. Pryor never gave you a chance to breathe and Kassim in the same way. Kassim was smart because he would catch his breath whenever he did his showboating. He would walk away from Jantuah, take 5 or 6 breaths, and then go back to work. Besides the moments where he was evading Kofi, Kassim pretty much fought continuously the whole night. Jantuah was very game and stayed dangerous throughout the fight but he met his match on this night.

As far as Ouma eventually meeting a guy like Winky Wright, I don’t know about that one. I’d have to flip a coin. Winky Wright is another underrated guy and really a different breed of fighter than Ouma has ever met. Wright’s a tough cookie. The fact that both guys are southpaws adds to this fight. Nobody has an advantage because they’re both lefties. It’s like two conventional fighters going at it, the best boxer is going to win. The stronger will would come out on top in that fight. Winky isn’t a big banger but he can hit you continuously just as can Kassim. We all know that Wright is scheduled to face Felix Trinidad later this year, but if he were ever to meet Ouma it would be a great fight.

Ouma is a hell of a champion. He’s a class act in the ring and I don’t see a whole lot of guys who can give him trouble. When Kassim was making his ring walk,  the expression on his face told me a lot about him. I could see the confidence in his face, the kid has confidence in his ability. That’s important, how much a fighter believes in himself. What you believe about yourself can go a long way in the ring and Kassim has that. He’s definitely one to keep your eye on.

With Gatti taking out Jesse James Leija we basically saw a bigger fighter with a bigger punch take out a smaller man. Leija is a veteran but he has crept into the 140 lb. Division and those boys are just a little too heavy for him.

Beforehand I figured Leija was getting into deep waters. He’s just not big enough to fight the top 140 lb. guys. It’s like when he fought Shane Mosley, Shane was just too big and too strong for him. I knew that Gatti was a big boy and I was pretty sure James couldn’t pull off the upset.

I think Gatti’s performance was excellent. I was impressed with his boxing skills. We’ve all seen him go toe to toe, but he has been able to switch things up and get back to boxing. Those are the fighters that will have longevity, the ones who use their ring intelligence. Pure boxers can stick around an extra 2-3 years because of their skills. You just can’t go around beating everyone up, it just doesn’t work that way. You need to learn how to hone your boxing skills if you want to compete at the top level.

Gatti was great last night but a potential fight against Floyd Mayweather is a whole new story. Floyd Mayweather is too slick and too quick for Gatti. Gatti can’t outbox him. As well as Gatti boxed last night, if he’s put in there with a Mayweather it’s a completely different fight. You can’t outbox the boxer and that’s what Floyd is. Gatti is strong and he has power but Floyd has too many dimensions to his game to get caught up in a slugging match with Arturo. I just can’t see Gatti imposing his will on Floyd because Mayweather is too smart and too slick. That fight reminds me of the rematch between Leonard and Duran, where Leonard used his skills to take control over the boxer-brawler.

Gatti says he wants to fight Mayweather and I believe him. Gatti’s a warrior but I think he’d be in too deep in that fight.

1-29-2005