What Gatti Meant To Me

Posted by David M. Lee on 07.13.2009

My own personal memories and feelings towards Arturo "Thunder" Gatti



So it's the early hours of Sunday morning, October 5th, 1997 and I'm waiting anxiously for Lennox Lewis' WBC heavyweight title defense against Andrew Golota. First up though is a fight for the IBF junior-lightweight title between Arturo Gatti and Gabriel Ruelas. "Arturo Gatti?", I wonder. "Oh yeah, that's the dude that beat Tracy Harris Patterson a couple of years ago. Ok, this'll be a nice little appetizer before the main course." Little did I know I was about to witness one of the most thrilling fights of the 90's.

Gatti, who looked to be headed for certain defeat, flattened Ruelas in the fifth round with a wicked left-hook in a scintillating contest that would be awarded with coveted titles like Ring Magazine Fight of the Year, Ring Magazine Knockout of the Year and Ring Magazine Round of the Year (fifth round). Suddenly, I couldn't have cared less about the upcoming Lewis vs Golota showdown. My breath was taken away with what I had just witnessed. But that's what Gatti did - he stole the show.

Fast forward to June 8th 2002, the night of one of the biggest heavyweight fights of all time, Lennox Lewis vs Mike Tyson. As part of Sky's pay-per-view package, viewers in the UK and Ireland got to see the unforgettable first meeting between Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward for the first time. Unbelievably, I found myself completely forgetting about Lewis and Tyson and only looking forward to the Gatti and Ward classic. I had read all about the fight in the previous weeks, so I thought I knew what to expect. How wrong I was.

Despite knowing who had won, I marked out big time during the war that unfolded before me. After the now legendary ninth round, where Gatti was knocked down and on the verge of being stopped before coming back towards the end of the round, I was simply burned out. Lewis vs Tyson? Keep it. I just saw possibly the greatest fight of the 21st century . Once again, Arturo had stolen the show.

Truth be told, Gatti was never a "great" in the truest sense of the word. He was much more important than that. He was one of the most beloved and respected fighters of the last twenty years. A guy with the kind of crossover appeal that all-time greats such as Pernell Whitaker and Bernard Hopkins never had. A four time "Fight of the Year" award winner, Gatti had many of his epic battles at The Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City and as a mark of respect the arena was affectionately dubbed "The House That Gatti Built." It was also, somewhat fittingly, where the curtain lowered on Gatti's glorious career.

After suffering a one-sided beating against hulking welterweight Carlos Baldomir, it was hoped that the now badly faded Canadian would be served a soft opponent for his farewell contest. After a career filled with blood and guts thrillers (he was after all "The Human Highlight Reel"), it was the least he deserved. Unfortunately, HBO would not accept any tomato cans. So the upcoming and hungry Alfonso Gomez (star of reality TV series "The Contender) was chosen to be Gatti's final opponent. The completely shot Gatti had nothing to offer against the naturally bigger Gomez and was rescued in the 7th round.

It was a sad way to go out, but at least he was out now. Now Gatti could enjoy a well-deserved retirement and we would be left to enjoy some of his greatest battles. But this is a cruel world we live in, where happy endings are usually only found in Walt Disney productions. On July 11th, Gatti was found dead in a resort apartment in Brazil. He was 37. Details are sketchy, but meaningless at this time. Bottom line is that the greatest warrior of our era has been taken from us at a ridiculously young age.

God has a funny way of proving a point. Only last week, I snobbishly looked down my nose at the fans of Michael Jackson for their grieving of a man that they never even knew. I never met Gatti, never mind knowing him. But as I read about the tragic news last night, I found myself having to wipe away the tears from my face. Even as I type this I'm getting choked up. Ok God, I get it. It's perfectly fine to grieve for those we did not know personally. Humans can enrich our lives, even without meeting them. Jackson enriched the lives of millions, just as Gatti enriched the lives of millions of boxing fans. His legacy will live on forever.

I did manage to smile last night though. You see, I had been pumped for UFC 100 all week long. And last night, after hearing the awful news, I stopped caring about the UFC PPV. I smiled when I realized this. I thought to myself, "the S.O.B. still steals the show, even in death."

God bless you Arturo and thanks for the memories.


Arturo Gatti (1972-2009)