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Many felt Floyd Mayweather’s pre-fight boast that he would easily take Arturo Gatti apart to be a typical arrogant, egotistical statement but that’s exactly what the now three- weight world champion achieved last night at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. While the fight itself ended in a stoppage by Gatti’s corner after |
all of five rounds, it was really a series of repetitive sequences that played out in numbing fashion. Gatti tried to work behind the jab, the primary weapon installed by trainer Buddy McGirt when he reinvented the former brawler four years ago, but when that was taken away by Mayweather’s superb ability to pull back and counter with a long knifing right hand, the Jersey City hero had no answers. The challenger’s footwork also played a part in the methodical destruction as Mayweather, 34-0 (23), shifted and fired far quicker than Gatti, 39-7 (30), could anticipate, react to, or even defend against. Many times the popular fighter would simply shell up and dip low after getting hit with cracking combinations but would only get a spearing shot to his side for his efforts.
Read on for more of SaddoBoxing’s exclusive ringside coverage courtesy of our very own Curtis McCormick. And don’t forget to scroll down the main news page for exclusive Gatti-Mayweather and Harris-Maussa photos.
Gatti tried to box, tried to brawl, tried everything at one time or another but he just couldn’t hit Mayweather with much of anything. He did have sporadic moments of success but they had no effect on the elusive former super featherweight and lightweight champion who surprisingly appeared to be the stronger of the two in the ring.
Afterwards there was much speculation as to what would happen in the light welterweight division, which in the month of June had completely changed. Instead of Tszyu, Gatti and Harris holding world title belts we have Hatton, Mayweather and an improbable Carlos Maussa replacing them. Only WBO titlist Miguel Cotto is still standing, handling amateur nemesis Mohamad Abdulaev a couple of weeks ago without too much trouble.
While there certainly will be a race between Mayweather, Hatton and Cotto to fight Maussa and add his WBA title to their collection, the consensus from some of the main promotional figures in the U.S. is that a match-up between Hatton and Mayweather is probably the next super light welterweight fight on the horizon.
Both fighters fancy the job with Mayweather calling for the bout to happen on the neutral ground of Madison Square Garden while Hatton is not too bothered where it takes place. Expect the pairing to head to a venue in the U.K. such as Cardiff’s 74,000 seat retractable roof equipped Millennium Stadium, as ticket sales would be expected to exceed 60,000 as opposed to 20,000 or so in New York. While Mayweather has stated that he will not go to England to fight Hatton, the sheer volume of cash generated from such a trip will be too much to turn away.
Curtis McCormick can be reached at thomaspointrd@aol.com
