Let’s Celebrate The Arturo Gatti-Wilson Rodriguez Classic
Arturo Gatti gave us too many wars, too many epic fights that seemed to push the boundaries of what a fight fan could expect to see when two men were in the ring for us to keep track of.
Arturo Gatti gave us too many wars, too many epic fights that seemed to push the boundaries of what a fight fan could expect to see when two men were in the ring for us to keep track of.
The great Arturo Gatti was always an honest fighter, a warrior who genuinely wanted to see who was the tougher man: him or his opponent.
Together, Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward shared 30 rounds of ring battle. At the end of the savage rivalry (savage in the ring, the two men became great friends, each full of admiration for the other out of it), Gatti won, 2 fights to 1.
A quarter of a century ago, the boxing world was first introduced to a fighter who would in time become THE most consistently thrilling, blood and guts, never say die warrior of them all.
“I know for a fact he never quit in the ring, and he’d never quit in life. I just know there’s something more to it.
Foul Play Or Not Foul Play?
A man who has fought for years in the ring, who has risked his very life in doing so, is fully deserving of living a long and happy life after retiring from the toughest of all sports.
Some fighters are never quite the same after tasting the sting of defeat for the very first time. This was clearly not the case with the great, the legendary, the beloved Arturo Gatti; far from it.
Had he lived, ultimate fan-favourite Arturo Gatti would this week have turned 47 (July 11) – Sadly as we all know, Gatti met an untimely death at the young age of just 37, back in 2009.
Boxing his pay-per-view debut, Floyd Mayweather, aged 28 and at the time sporting a 33-0 record as well as being at his blinding peak, dismantled the hugely popular Arturo Gatti.
May 18th, Mohegan Sun Arena, Montville, Connecticut.
It was on the above date (some 17 years ago today) at the above venue when two of the most incredibly willing, and tough, and gutsy 140 pound fighters met for the first time.