24.07.06 – Travis Marks @ ringside: After he defeated Zabdiel “Super” Judah for the “disputed” undisputed welterweight championship, reigning WBC welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir (photo by Tom Casino) out of Santa Fe, Argentina did not receive the credit he deserved for winning the fight. Instead all the post-fight talk centered on how immature Judah still was and how unfocused he was in the ring. The most popular question was how could Zab lose to this bum knowing that he had a fight with pound for pound king “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather in the near horizon?
By defeating blood and guts warrior Arturo “Thunder” Gatti in front of a packed house at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City last night, Carlos Baldomir cemented himself as a legitimate champion in the welterweight division and is now a forced to be reckoned with.
In the opening round of the bout Carlos Baldomir came out attacking Arturo Gatti. The first flush punch that Baldomir landed was a straight right over the left guard of Gatti. It sounded and looked like a hard shot but Gatti took it well. However that right hand found a home on the left side on Gatti face and head all night long..
As is customary, Gatti fought Baldomir back with everything he had. He tried to mount an attack and at times caught Baldomir coming in. However Baldomir was very prepared. It appears that he must have studied Mayweather’s “white-washing” of Gatti on June 25, 2005. Baldomir found success coupling his straight right hands with left hooks both to the body and the head. That strategy was the blueprint that Mayweather used as he thoroughly dismantled Gatti.
In the second round Baldomir continued his assault by landing that right hand over and over again. Baldomir is a thinker in the ring. He not only throws the straight lead right hand to the head he also finds a target to the chest of his opponents. As the round progressed Gatti’s fans got excited by every punch Gatti threw, whether it connected or not. But Baldomir was unrelenting. He never gave Gatti a chance to breathe.
After trainer James “Buddy” McGirt took Gatti under his wing he made Arturo more of a conventional boxer. Due to the urging of McGirt, Gatti began utilizing his jab and threw his power shots off of that jab in his fights. Last night the accuracy of Baldomir’s straight right hand leads forced Gatti to put his shotgun jab back into its holster for fear that he would be hit.
By the end of the third round Gatti had the look of a fighter who realized that he would have to do something dramatic to turn the tide in his favor. He had just taken a vicious pummeling from Baldomir that left him staggering to the ropes at the sound fo the bell. Gatti throughout his career has been in drama filled bouts but last night was different. Gatti’s offensive output was unmistakably limited. He stopped trying to lead and his offensive output became simply just a defense against the oncoming attacking Baldomir.
The fifth round was a damaging round for Gatti as Baldomir just continued his dominance. He beat Gatti from “pillar to post”. Only the heart of Gatti kept him from succumbing to the pressure of the champion. Baldomir continued to punish Gatti with his aggression and accuracy, landing 51 of the 79 punches he threw. Last night, The Argentinean showed that he is a fighter here to stay and not just visiting. He put on a world class beat down on one of the more popular fighters out there today.
The end of the bout came at 2:50 of the ninth round when Gatti was floored for the second time by a left hook in that round. Gatti was sprawled out on his back and referee Wayne Hedgepeth was left with no other option than to wave the bout off without a count.
Baldomir is now a legitimate player at welterweight. He has earned the chance to call some shots. Beating Judah was no easy feat, even Mayweather can testify that and now with a dominating knockout win over Gatti under his belt in front of such a huge audience his stock has surely risen.
In the post fight press conference Baldomir said that he wants to fight either Mayweather or WBA welterweight champion, Great Britain’s Ricky “Hitman” Hatton. The chances of getting Mayweather in the ring seems likely for two reasons. First of all Floyd would get the lion share of the purse and secondly Baldomir holds the WBC version of the welterweight championship, a belt that Mayweather covets.
McGirt said something interesting as he left the arena last night. He said that Baldomir would give Mayweather a very tough fight because Carlos is very strong. McGirt contends that even Mayweather would have difficulties with Baldomir’s strength and pressure.
Contact writer at travioso76@yahoo.com