Before he entered the ring for the final time to face ‘Contender’ star Alfonso Gomez in Atlantic City in July 2007, Arturo Gatti said: “You can’t have a great fight every night.”
Gatti did his best to disprove his point. His greatness was not measured in his win-loss columns or world title triumphs. It was in putting his heart and soul on the line every time he fought.
“I don’t have anything else to prove to anybody,” said Gatti. He retired without regrets, and the outpouring of grief within the boxing world at news of his death this week confirmed his popularity.
His all-out attacking style was not one which will be taught in boxing gyms across the globe. He sustained brutal punishment. He said: “I’ve been in a lot of wars, but most of the time it was my opponents who were hurt worse than I was.”
Gatti’s trilogy with ‘Irish’ Micky Ward ranks among the sport’s all-time great trilogies: up there with Ali-Frazier, Zale-Graziano and Barrera-Morales. It will be enough, one day, to send him to the Hall of Fame.
On Saturday night in Manchester Amir Khan will bid to join Gatti as a 140lbs world champion when he bids for Andreas Kotelnik’s WBA crown. Gatti held the WBC version through three fights until he lost it to Floyd Mayweather in 2005.
Today, titles alone mean little more than hooks for pay-per-view sales. The best 140lbs fighter is Manny Pacquiao, who does not hold a title. Other holders – Timothy Bradley and Kendall Holt – are better fighters than Kotelnik.
Nevertheless, anything to bring in pay-per-view sales and thus profile in an age when boxing is battling for its survival against the rising force of mixed martial arts is not to be discouraged.
Khan’s side of the bargain is not simply to beat Kotelnik, which he should do relatively comfortably, but to do it in a style which wins reviews rave enough to transcend the non-terrestrial media platform.
No-one is suggesting he should wade out at the opening bell with Gatti’s face-first fury. But previous wars against the likes of Barrera and Michael Gomez – even his foolish but fearless start against Breidis Prescott – show Khan has what it takes.
That shocking first round loss to Prescott could turn out to have done Khan more good than harm. Stopped him going out of his way to protect an unbeaten record which means little without wars to go with it.
Gatti lost his seventh professional fight in 1992 to a nine-fight novice called King Solomon. In 1998, he lost three fights consecutively, one to Angel Manfredy, twice to Ivan Robinson.
Far from stalling his career, those fights, in particular his first with Robinson, made Gatti’s name far more than all those previous, relatively routine (for Gatti!) wins over the likes of Tracy Harris Patterson, Feliciano Correa and Calvin Grove.
That first fight with Robinson was a war from start to finish. Gatti knocked down Robinson in round four. In the sixth, Gatti appeared close to being stopped before hitting back with a big right which wobbled Robinson across the ring.
Gatti also almost had Robinson out in the 10th round but his opponent hung on to claim a clattering split decision win. Despite his losses, Gatti emerged as a shining example of all that is good about the sport.
Khan and his handlers need to take heed of such a stellar example. So do all of us who were too quick to write him off after the Prescott loss, and who doubtless will again if all does not go according to plan against Kotelnik.
Matthew Hall is another who knows all about second chances. The Manchester light-middleweight has twice spent time out after being stabbed in street fights within an inch of his life.
In July 2007, he was knocked out in the first round by big-punching Martin Concepcion. He responded with six straight wins, the last of which saw him brutally dismantle Commonwealth title holder Bradley Pryce for a second round knockout win in March.
Hall puts his Commonwealth title on the line – and bids for the vacant British crown – against flash, brash Londoner Anthony Small in a fascinating contest on the Khan undercard which could well prove the fight of the night.
Small’s self-proclaimed status as the second coming of Sugar Ray Robinson took a hit in July 2007 when he was stopped by Pryce in his only career defeat to date. He has since bounced back with four straight wins.
They are two fighters seeking, just like Khan, to make the most of second chances. They are no longer burdened by spurious unbeaten records. They just want to fight as hard as they can. Arturo Gatti would surely approve of that.
