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Sharkie’s Machine
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.
July 14th, 2007
“HBO’s Triple Header”
Saturday night in Atlantic City, fan favorite and ripened
legendary warrior, Arturo Gatti (40-9-0, 31 KO’s) came to the
end point of his exciting career. His opponent, 26
year-old Alfonso Gomez (17-3, 8 KO’s), systematically picked him
apart with aggression, jabbing and combination punching that
proved more than Gatti (at 35 years old) could handle. With
Micky Ward in his corner as a trainer, it was a feel good
situation that concluded in disaster. Not on account of Ward’s
instructions but because Gatti simply could not keep up with
Gomez, who always beat him to the punch and was able to take
what few punches Gatti managed to land during the course of
seven rounds.
It was a happy day for Alfonso Gomez, whose claim to fame was
his part on the TV show, “The Contender,” where he was a fan
favorite. Gomez showed good boxing skills and stronger
determination to win every round, en route to a knockout in the
seventh round.
Arturo Gatti, after so many wars, didn’t have enough left inside
to handle the up and coming Alfonso Gomez, who looked to be the
bigger, stronger man in the ring. While this may have been the
last time we see Gatti in the ring, take nothing away from
Gomez, who shined with an impressive performance.
Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward were not the greatest tacticians in
the ring. They were never regarded as, ‘best pound for
pound’ in their primes but they were hard working, blue-collar
warriors that the average man could identify with. They proved
that great match-making has a greater impact on the sport’s
history than just titles and rankings. For Ward, a successful
outing as Gatti’s corner man might’ve paved the way to a
lucrative future training up and coming fighters. That may still
happen but not based on how Gatti did in his pugilistic finale.
Father Ttime passes no man by and Arturo Gatti had to deal with
the reality that he simply is no longer able to do what he did
for so many electric years—be a crowd-pleasing fighter. When all
was said and done, Gatti said that he would retire now. He will
be sorely missed. I wish him all the best.
Alfonso Gomez did what he had to do and did so with authority.
He demonstrated quality boxing skills and persistence that make
for exciting fights. Arguments can be made that Gatti was past
his prime and not a credible test for the likeable Gomez but the
truth is, Gomez has what it takes to be a strong competitor in
the 140-147 pound divisions.
After the fight, Gomez said he’d like to fight Julio Caesar
Chavez Jr. That sounds like a good match up. Will JC Jr. take
that fight or continue building his record against guys we never
heard of and will never hear of again? Chavez appears to have
some quality boxing skills, a long range and considerable power.
Against Gomez, he’d have a significant height advantage to work
his jab. It’s a fight I think most fans would enjoy. Let's hope
it happens.
*
IBF Welterweight Champion, Kermit Cintron (28-1,26 KO’s) made
easy work of Walter Matthysse (26-2, 25 KO’s), knocking him down
in the first round and following up with a pair of knockdowns in
the second round that ended the fight. Matthysse came on strong
at the start but Cintron was poised and took full advantage when
the moment presented itself. After hurting Matthysse in the
first, Cintron followed up in the second with sharp accurate
punches. He landed a clean uppercut and right cross to put
Matthysse on the canvas and out.
During the post fight interview, Cintron was asked who he
wants to fight next and instead of saying Antonio Margarito, the
only man who ever beat Cintron, he called for Shane Mosley, who
is arguably past his prime. Even though Mosley is far from being
in top form, his name appears to still have enough clout to make
for a big money fight. But there are bigger fish to fry at 147,
like newly crowned WBO Champ, Paul Williams or WBA Champ, Miguel
Cotto. Forget about Floyd Mayweather Jr. He only fights guys he
knows he’s going to beat. Can anyone imagine FMJ agreeing to
fight Paul Williams after he turned down a fight against
Margarito for $7-8 million?
Congrats to Kermit Cintron, who showed composure and powerful
accuracy in his defense of his IBF Welterweight Title. Not to
take anything away from Cintron but I don’t understand how
Walter Matthysse qualified to challenge for Cintron’s IBF title,
especially since Matthysse last fight (a year ago) was a loss to
Paul Williams and that he was not even ranked in the top ten in
the Welterweight division. Seems boxing is just an exhibition
sport and not a real, legitimate sport. THAT is what’s killing
boxing.
What about all the top contenders in the division trying to earn
their chance at a Championship fight? Matthysse loses a fight to
a top contender (Paul Williams) and that propels him to a fight
against a major title belt holder? How does that work?
Where is the meritocracy that is supposed to be the decisive
factor of who faces who in sports? That Matthysse was afforded a
chance to win the IBF Title without really earning it waters
down the value of all the Titles. Maybe Cintron should be trying
to get a rematch against the man who beat him, Margarito, who
could use some help regaining a title after his meeting with
Paul “The Punisher” Williams.
* *
Styles make fights and in the biggest fight of the night, five
foot, eleven inch WBO Champion, Antonio Margarito (34-5, 24
KO’s) took on the six foot one inch tall, Paul Williams (33-0,
24 KO’s) in what was Margarito’s eighth Title defense at the
Home Depot Center in Carson California.
Williams looked like he was six foot four against the smaller
Margarito. Williams was the busier fighter, who worked his
jab from a good range and constantly outworked Margarito for the
better part of twelve rounds.
Margarito did land the more damaging punches later in the fight
but was constantly beaten to the punch by the lanky Williams,
who dominated the early rounds with his jab and follow-up
combinations. He did enough in the late rounds to earn a
Unanimous Decision victory over the man that, “nobody wants to
fight at 147.” Mostly it felt like Margarito just ran out of
rounds. Had it been a 15 round fight, Margarito probably would
have won because he was getting to Williams in the seventh,
eighth and eleventh rounds. For all of his offensive prowess,
Williams never managed to hurt Margarito at all.
One of the most impressive things about this fight was the
cardio-vascular conditioning of both guys. Neither man ever
looked out of breath in his corner from beginning to end.
The decisive factor in this one was that Williams was simply
faster and longer than Margarito, who had trouble getting his
offense going in the first five rounds. The fourth round was
close because Margarito actually was able to score on the inside
to the body. But in almost every round except for the sixth,
ninth and tenth, Williams always dictated the tempo and scored
more often.
After 12 rounds, Williams' face was swollen and he bled from a
cut over his left eye. Margarito was unblemished and sure that
it was he, who had won. The judges scored it 116-112 and 115-113
twice, all in favor of Williams. Margarito called the decision a
robbery. I can’t see how Margarito can think he won the fight
when he lost so many rounds by being outworked and out pointed
by the softer punching but voluminous Paul Williams.
With a well-stocked Welterweight Division, let's hope there’ll
be some big time fights on the horizon. This division is real
tight at the top and we fans deserve to see the best fight the
best!
We have some tough customers at 147, like Kermit Cintron, Miguel
Cotto, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Shane Mosley and possibly Oscar De
La Hoya, who supposedly plans continue fighting at 147. And
don’t forget Antonio Margarito, he’ll be back. Just think what a
great tournament could be made to separate the contenders from
the Champions at Welterweight.
* * *
Comments can be emailed to Sharkie
7-14-2007
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