14.07.07 – By Izyaslav “Slava” Koza: Tonight the career of one of the most popular and exciting fighters of the not too distant past may have come to an end. Though it is difficult to say for sure whether Arturo Gatti (40-0, 31 KOs) will return to the ring, and knowing him he may well, it is clear that a defeat of this nature to an opponent of this nature, like Alfonso Gomez (17-3-2, 8 KOs), puts an exclamation point on the the 35-year-old Gatti’s career, stopping him in the 7th round of a one-sided fight.
Arturo had brief moments of his young and fleeting boxing glory, but they were few and far between and generously interspersed with moments of him being a shot fighter.
What impressed me most, however, were the actions of commissioner Larry Hazard. Arturo Gatti’s never surrender attitude didn’t really take a pasting against Mayweather, as McGirt, his trainer, made the decision there, while in the Baldomir fight the ref didn’t give Gatti the chance to take image busting matters into his own hands. Those losses still left Arturo with one hint of that which has made him such a huge sell up to this point. Tonight though it seemed to me, as Gatti’s body finally gave out under the pressure of that final devastating hook, that last little bit of “Thunder,” would finally give way to the depressing calm after the storm. It looked as if Gatti would stay down for the count and not even make the symbolic effort of showing he will never quit.
Rather then allow Gatti to lose face, and perhaps not even thinking about the positive secondary nature of his actions, Larry Hazard came into the ring before Gatti took that devastating, face losing 10 count, and saved just that last bit of Gatti’s legacy.
Congratulations to Alfonso Gomez, but, unfortunately, boxing is such that his moment in the sun will be overshadowed by Gatti’s apparent last hurrah.