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Veteran campaigner Jesse James Leija has become something of a party crasher of late. In his undisputed light welterweight title challenge to Kostya Tszyu, he almost ruined Tszyu’s homecoming to Australia with a neat early rounds display of educated boxing and moving. Victory against Tszyu was not to be, making the coup de grace of Leija’s spoiling antics his great win over young sensation Francisco Bojado. Clearly, bringing Leija in as the “opponent” is a risky tactic and one that may not pay off for Arturo Gatti in only his second defense of his WBC world championship. A Gatti win will set the stage for a magnificent showdown between him and Floyd Mayweather Jr. who recently dusted Henry Bruseles in eight rounds to preserve the possibility of the superfight. Will Gatti elect to box conservatively as has been his preference of late, or will the Gatti of old surface and thrill us with another “no guts, no glory” performance? If Leija has one more trick in the bag at his advanced age, Gatti may struggle regardless of which one of his fighting personas emerge. On the under-card, Kassim Ouma will defend his IBF light middleweight title against Kofi Jantuah. Ouma dominated Verno Phillips to claim the title while Jantuah’s one punch KO of Marco Antonio Rubio caused a considerable stir. It should be a great night of boxing, and the Saddoboxing.com writing team has weighed in with their picks for the action once again.
Jim Amato: Arturo Gatti will be too good for the ever-game Leija to handle. This will be Jesse’s swan song. He’s had a hell of a ride but this time, he’s being used to help showcase Gatti. Leija’s name still has market value but the Gatti people consider him a “safe” opponent while they await big money matches with Tszyu, Hatton, Cotto or Mayweather Jr. Gatti to win inside of ten rounds!
Joseph de Beauchamp: Arturo Gatti beats Jesse James Leija by the sixth round in a knockout. Odds makers in Vegas have Gatti with eight to one favorite, and some even higher. This weatherman predicts the “Thunder” of Gatti looks to blast the “Texas Tornado” Leija. When Arturo brawled with Leonard Dorin in a recent fight, the Thunder struck Dorin –who had not lost a fight going into this match. Leija lost a fight to Kostya Tszyu aged thirty-eight, an old man in fight years. Gatti trained hard for this fight. Anything might happen, however, Gatti always shows great heart, and performs in every fight as if he still fights against Mickey Ward. Thunder meets the Tornado.
Jim Cawkwell: Part of what makes boxing great is that the comfort of our expectations can suddenly be shaken by those wonderful moments of unpredictability. The conscience says that Gatti cannot lose ahead of the brilliant prospect of his fight with Mayweather, but the nature of the prize ring is no respecter of our external desires. I expect that Leija will provide a surprise or two before the end, but Gatti, with so much at stake will not leave the ring at any price until his hand is raised in victory; something I expect we will see after twelve hard-fought rounds.
Kassim Ouma faces a dynamite puncher in Kofi Jantuah for his first defense of the IBF light middleweight title. Ronald Wright’s migration north to the middleweight division leaves a hole to be filled and Ouma could use this opportunity to stake his claim as the definitive light middleweight champion in Wright’s wake. Jantuah brings the power, but Ouma has shown an alarming tendency to be able to stand up to whatever is brought before him; he strikes me as a solid and determined champion and I expect him to find a way to beat Jantuah before the distance is reached.
Lee Bellfield: Gatti vs. Leija: This should be a very interesting fight. Gatti I feel has more to lose at this stage of his career and is looking for a match against Floyd Mayweather Jnr. With this in mind, I think Gatti will be the busier man and will win a unanimous decision.
Richard Eberline: Leija will win by a split decision over the twelve round distance.
Ben Lynch: Everyone’s saying Gatti is going to win. In fact, listening to most people you’d think all Gatti has to do is walk to the ring and blow on Leija and it’ll be over. Leija’s thirty-eight, doesn’t hit that hard, has limited skills and in his career had little success in world title fights. This fight has a Gatti win written all over it…… Or does it? Gatti vs. Dorin was a no-contest from the opening bell, everyone could see that when the two were stood in the ring. Before that, Gatti was pushed by Gianluca Branco, a man that had never fought world-class opposition before and before that Gatti was in three brawls with Mickey ward. I think Leija can win this. If Gatti hurts his hand again, Leija can win this. Personally, I want to see Gatti win because it’ll set up a summer fight with Floyd Mayweather, but it’s going to a much harder fight than people are anticipating.
Leija KO round eight.
Greig Johnston: Gatti/Leija – My head tells me this is a no-brainer, and nothing I’ve seen in the lead up convinces me any different. Arturo lowers the boom sometime in round nine.
Ouma/Jantuah – Firstly, props to whoever made this fight, and to the two fighters for taking it. It’s a true pick ’em. I’m going for Kofi to percolate Ouma in round four.
Jim Cawkwell can be reached at jimcawkwell@yahoo.co.uk
