In his first three pay-per-view fights, against Gatti, Zab Judah and Carlos Baldomir, Mayweather sold 369,000, 378,000 and 325,000 units respectively. They were solid figures, but they weren't. Mayweather wobbled Judah at the beginning of the seventh and Judah's nose was bleeding. By the ninth, Judah's right eye was swelling and Mayweather was in complete control, outlanding Judah 28-2 in power shots in the round. Late in the tenth round, Judah hit Mayweather with a blatant low blow followed by a punch to the back of the head.
One great smaller weight fighter was on his rise, while the champion he faced was unfortunately on his way down, as they met 14 years ago on Tuesday night. That's when Floyd Mayweather Jr. captured yet another weight division championship, and in the process, escalated the end of Arturo 'Thunder' Gatti's storied career.
Sixth-round TKO over Arturo Gatti for the WBC super lightweight title, June 25, 2005, Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, N.J.: The bout was Mayweather's first at super lightweight and marked his.
Famed Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was the site as Mayweather moved up to 140 lbs. to take on Gatti for his WBC title on June 25th, 2005.
And, it would become obvious quickly, that Mayweather was too young, too fast and too hard-punching for a Gatti. And, that Gatti was clearly no longer the fighter he once was, in terms of reflexes and his own punching capabilities.
The first round had controversy right away, as Mayweather clearly hit Gatti after referee Earl Morton had ordered the fighters to stop punching, but was standing behind Mayweather. Everybody paused for half a second, but then, Mayweather hit Gatti with his hands at his sides, with a left hook that sent him down on the both knees along the ropes.
Morton didn't acknowledge that he had told the fighters to stop and then, actually counted in front of an angry Gatti, who thought that Mayweather should have been penalized.
It turned out to not matter much.
As the rounds wore on, Mayweather continued to dominate by scoring, in particular, with straight right hands and left hooks behind them. Gatti was no match, was absorbing 15 punches or more per round and had lost every one of the first five rounds, when the sixth began. (Mayweather out landed Gatti 168-41 in total blows.)
Then, once again, Mayweather was on him, landing several clean heavy punches in the first minute of the sixth with Gatti not able to do much in return. Gatti's left eye, which had been prone to swell shut in previous fights, was doing the same and he could no longer see Mayweather's right hands coming at him.
Mayweather rocked Gatti with a big left hook in the final 10 seconds of the round, but couldn't put him down. Still, Gatti's trainer and former fighter Buddy McGirt agreed that his fighter had had enough and halted things before the start of the seventh round.
The win put Mayweather at 34-o for this third World Title in a different weight class on his way to an eventual 50-0 record, as a professional.
The loss for Gatti dropped him to 39 – 7. He would fight only three more times, finishing 40 – 9 and retiring in 2007.
Gatti died under mysterious circumstances in July of 2009, in Brazil.
Brazilian authorities maintained that Gatti took his own life by hanging, while on a vacation for his sister's wedding, with his wife in 10 month old son present in their the hotel suite.
However, Gatti's family and the Canadian government pushed for further investigation into his death and a second autopsy, which was eventually performed weeks later. It proved largely inconclusive. Still unsatisfied, the family had Gatti's body exhumed almost two years later for another autopsy and further analysis about possible foul play in his death.
The final released findings in November of 2011 by the Canadian investigators maintained that Gatti was actually asphyxiated or 'choked to death,' but could not conclude who could have done it or how that happened?
Brazilian authorities stood by their 2009 investigation and closed the case without investigating further or making any charges or arrests.
It was a sad and horrible end to what was a magnificent and heroic boxing career and life for the 37 year old Gatti.
And, it would become obvious quickly, that Mayweather was too young, too fast and too hard-punching for a Gatti. And, that Gatti was clearly no longer the fighter he once was, in terms of reflexes and his own punching capabilities.
The first round had controversy right away, as Mayweather clearly hit Gatti after referee Earl Morton had ordered the fighters to stop punching, but was standing behind Mayweather. Everybody paused for half a second, but then, Mayweather hit Gatti with his hands at his sides, with a left hook that sent him down on the both knees along the ropes.
Morton didn't acknowledge that he had told the fighters to stop and then, actually counted in front of an angry Gatti, who thought that Mayweather should have been penalized.
It turned out to not matter much.
As the rounds wore on, Mayweather continued to dominate by scoring, in particular, with straight right hands and left hooks behind them. Gatti was no match, was absorbing 15 punches or more per round and had lost every one of the first five rounds, when the sixth began. (Mayweather out landed Gatti 168-41 in total blows.)
Then, once again, Mayweather was on him, landing several clean heavy punches in the first minute of the sixth with Gatti not able to do much in return. Gatti's left eye, which had been prone to swell shut in previous fights, was doing the same and he could no longer see Mayweather's right hands coming at him.
Mayweather rocked Gatti with a big left hook in the final 10 seconds of the round, but couldn't put him down. Still, Gatti's trainer and former fighter Buddy McGirt agreed that his fighter had had enough and halted things before the start of the seventh round.
The win put Mayweather at 34-o for this third World Title in a different weight class on his way to an eventual 50-0 record, as a professional.
The loss for Gatti dropped him to 39 – 7. He would fight only three more times, finishing 40 – 9 and retiring in 2007.
Gatti died under mysterious circumstances in July of 2009, in Brazil.
Brazilian authorities maintained that Gatti took his own life by hanging, while on a vacation for his sister's wedding, with his wife in 10 month old son present in their the hotel suite.
However, Gatti's family and the Canadian government pushed for further investigation into his death and a second autopsy, which was eventually performed weeks later. It proved largely inconclusive. Still unsatisfied, the family had Gatti's body exhumed almost two years later for another autopsy and further analysis about possible foul play in his death.
The final released findings in November of 2011 by the Canadian investigators maintained that Gatti was actually asphyxiated or 'choked to death,' but could not conclude who could have done it or how that happened?
Brazilian authorities stood by their 2009 investigation and closed the case without investigating further or making any charges or arrests.
It was a sad and horrible end to what was a magnificent and heroic boxing career and life for the 37 year old Gatti.
As for Mayweather, he won World Titles in five different weight divisions in his career and was the 'Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year' twice. He earned an unheard of $550 million in his pro career. And, 'Money May' is largely regarded as one of the great smaller weight fighters of the last 50 years in boxing.
| Date | June 25, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBC Super Lightweight Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mayweather by automatic TKO |
Arturo Gatti vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr., billed as 'Thunder & Lightning', was a professional boxing match contested on June 25, 2005 for the WBC super lightweight championship.
Background[edit]
The Gatti–Mayweather bout had been in the making for over a year. After a tough trilogy with Mickey Ward, Gatti earned a shot at the vacant WBC super lightweight (AKA light welterweight) championship, winning the title on January 21, 2004 with a unanimous decision victory over Gianluca Branco. Four months later, Mayweather would vacate his WBC and The Ring lightweight title and move up to the light welterweight division. Initially, Mayweather was set to face the undefeated former IBF lightweight champion Paul Spadafora to determine who would be the mandatory challenger to Gatti's title, but the fight was nixed due to Spadafora's legal troubles.[1] Instead, Mayweather was matched up against former WBO light welterweight champion DeMarcus Corley in a WBC 'eliminator' bout on May 22, 2004. In his light welterweight debut, Mayweather had Corley down on the canvas no less than seven times (though only two were declared official knockdowns) and cruised to an easy, lopsided unanimous decision that not only made him the number one contender to Gatti's title, but also the number one pound-for-pound fighter in boxing.[2] After a successful defense against Leonard Dorin, Gatti announced his intentions to face Mayweather.[3] However, several disagreements hindered the negotiations and the two sides would not reach an agreement until March 2005 for a June 25 fight in New Jersey.[4] Prior to the fight, Mayweather repeatedly bashed Gatti in the press, calling him, among other things, a 'C-plus fighter', 'club fighter' and a 'bum.' For the most part, Gatti refused to appear at press conferences with Mayweather, saying 'I just don't want to be bothered by his mouth.' Mayweather, however, crashed a Gatti press conference, referring to him as a 'paper champion' and lampooning his struggle to make weight by loading food on a plate.[5]
The Fight[edit]
Gatti Vs Mayweather
In his Pay Per View debut, Mayweather dominated Gatti through six rounds. Late in the first round as Gatti bent forwards, Mayweather leaned on him and the referee instructed, 'Stop punching.' Mayweather continued to punch and Gatti looked to the referee to complain. With Gatti's attention turned towards the referee, Mayweather landed a left hook that sent Gatti into the ropes and on his knee. Despite the violation of his instruction, the referee counted the knockdown.[6] Things would only go downhill for Gatti as Mayweather continued to overwhelm the champion with his quickness and hand speed, landing combinations at will. After losing all six rounds on the scorecards and having landed only 41 total punches to Mayweather's 168, Gatti's trainer and cornerman Buddy McGirt stopped the fight following the sixth round, giving Mayweather an automatic technical knockout victory.[7]
References[edit]
- ^Mayweather's Opponent Is Rejected, N.Y. Times article, 2004-02-25, Retrieved on 2014-03-19
- ^Mayweather pounds Corley in win, USA Today article, 2004-05-22, Retrieved on 2014-03-19
- ^After Showing Polish, Gatti Has Eyes on Mayweather, N.Y. Times article, 2004-07-26, Retrieved on 2014-03-19
- ^Gatti, Mayweather fight back on for June 25, USA Today article, 2005-03-10, Retrieved on 2014-03-19
- ^Mayweather-Gatti: Bad blood boiling, Chicago Tribune article, 2005-06-24, Retrieved on 2014-03-19
- ^Fight Review: Mayweather's key bouts
- ^Gatti Is No Match for Mayweather, N.Y. Times article, 2005-06-26, Retrieved on 2014-03-19
Mayweather Gatti Odds Ufc
