As the end of the year approaches, with just about every fight of consequence in the books, stories of reflection begin to dominate the boxing news sites and publications. This year, as is the case with most years, there is plenty to reflect on. The pound-for ?pound leader in the sport defeated the most popular fighters the United States and England had to offer in consecutive outings, The Contender featured possibly the most satisfying finale in reality television, overall most of the top fighters fought each other in mostly entertaining bouts and several promising prospects took steps in becoming the next wave stars. As new stars emerged, four the biggest names of the last decade said goodbye to the squared circle in 2007, as Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Fernando Vargas and Arturo Gatti all announced their retirements after their last bouts.
The first the hang up the gloves was Arturo ?Thunder? Gatti, who was completely decimated by Alfonso Gomez of Contender fame on July 14th at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Gatti came into the bout after nearly a year out of the ring, when he was equally defeated by Carlos Baldomir in a quest for the WBC Welterweight title. It was apparent then that Gatti?s long and hard career was in the final stage, and a debate over the credibility this possibly final opponent was public before HBO agreed to Gomez. Gatti?s handlers at Main Events were hoping Gatti would get by Gomez, who entered the bout 16-3-2, and get a big money payday with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. later in the year. It was not to be, and Gatti was stopped in round seven. Gatti announced his retirement immediately after the bout with tears in his eyes. Although he was never an elite caliber fighter, Gatti may make the hall of fame one day because he was possibly the most entertaining fighter of the last ten years. His memorable bouts with Wilson Rodriguez, Gabriel Ruelas, Ivan Robinson and Micky Ward are stuff of legend. He beat a very good fighter in Tracy Harris Patterson to win the IBF Super Featherweight title in 1995 and won the vacant WBC Light Welterweight title with a win over Gianluca Branco in 2004. No matter who he was in the ring with, it was appointment television. If you had any interest in boxing, and Arturo Gatti was fighting, then you were watching.
There is no mistaking the hall of fame credentials of Erik ?El Terrible? Morales. Like Gatti, it had become apparent that Morales had entered the twilight of his career after three consecutive losses in bouts with Zahir Raheem and Manny Pacquiao, with the final Pacquiao bout being especially one-sided. After talk of retirement following the third Pacquiao bout, Morales decided to return and was grated a shot at WBC Lightweight titlist David Diaz in August. The warrior from Tijuana made a close fight of it, but faded down the stretch and lost a unanimous decision. Morales, along with rival Marco Antonio Barrera and Prince Naseem Hamed, spearheaded possibly the best era of featherweight boxing since the advent of color television. He helped show that featherweights could be exciting, big money makers in a business that?s success used to be based mainly on the heavyweight division. He beat just about every big name of his era, including Daniel Zaragoza, Junior Jones, Wayne McCullough, Kevin Kelley, Injin Chi, Paulie Ayala, Jesus Chavez, Carlos Hernandez, Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera in one of the their three epic bouts. He was a title-holder in three weight divisions and a debate over which Mexican was the better fighter, he or Barrera, may never be settled.
Marco Antonio Barrera likewise announced his retirement following his final bout, a unanimous decision loss in a rematch to Manny Pacquiao in October. Going into the bout, Barrera had begun talk that it would be his last fight, never usually a good sign that a fighter will have their best showing. Barrera, who was coming into the bout after dropping a decision to Juan Manuel Marquez in March, looked to erase the memory of his worst loss, and one-sided drubbing at the hands of Pacquiao in 2003. This time Barrera boxed carefully, but again Pacquiao was the more active and powerful puncher. Barrera acknowledged that his heart was no longer completely in the fight game, and thus ended a career that had many stages. He came up the ranks in the early 90?s as a Southern California favorite, fighting under the banner of the Great Western Forum. He broke through nationally in 1996 with a memorable war against Kennedy McKinney in defense of the WBO Super Bantamweight title he had won the year before, in a bout that both launched his star status and the HBO Boxing After Dark program. He was written off the following year after consecutive losses to Junior Jones. He was brought in as name opponent for young upstart Erik Morales in 2000, and rejuvenated his career by losing a disputed decision in the fight of the year. He would go on to defeat Prince Naseem Hamed and Erik Morales in another close fight, before running into Manny Pacquiao. He was written off again before defeating Morales to cap their trilogy in 2004. Barrera, like Morales, won titles in three weight divisions, and will be a first ballot hall of famer in five years time.
?Ferocious? Fernando Vargas announced his retirement prior to entering the ring with Ricardo Mayorga in November. The bout has originally been planned for September, before Vargas postponed due to an illness. Reports circulated that he was also having trouble making the weight, something that had become a problem late in his career. Vargas was on of the most highly touted fighters from the 1996 Olympic squad. He began his career as a young prodigy, winning the IBF Light Middleweight title days after his 21st birthday, against Yory Boy Campas. He would record notable victories over Raul Marquez, Winky Wright and his best showing against Ike Quartey, before knocked out by Felix Trinidad in a unification bout in 2000. It was the Trinidad bout, a very brave showing by Vargas, that may have endeared him to his fans more so than any victory would. Two years later he met Southern California arch nemesis Oscar De La Hoya in one of the most profitable fights in history. After the eleventh knockout defeat, Vargas would be suspended for testing positive for a banned substance, and later would suffer a back injury that would plague his remaining years as a fighter. He would still sell out arenas as continued to fight second tier opponents, before being stopped twice by Sugar Shane Mosley prior to the Mayorga bout. Mayorga would win a unanimous decision, having put Vargas down twice. Vargas, much like Gatti, usually lost when he stepped in with the elite fighters of the sport, but it was the way he fought that made him one of the most bankable fighters of the last decade.
It was been sometime since the sport lost four fighters in the same year that had the marquee value of these four fighters. There is also the possibility that Shane Mosley and Evander Holyfield have fought their last bouts, although no announcements have been made. Retirements in boxing are often more like vacations, but my guess is that we have seen the last of Gatti, Barrera, Morales and Vargas as fighters. One thing is for certain, the big fight, pay per view boxing landscape will look very different without them.
