Adios, Gatti?

boxfan2015

Boxing Notebook: Adios, Gatti?

By Carlos Guzman
Inspin.com
Contributing Writer

“Nobody ever thought [Arturo] Gatti would take such a beating” – rising lightweight prospect Jorge “The Truth” Teron.

That was the sentiment after Saturday's bout against Carlos Baldomir. So many experts picked Gatti to win, with no foundation of course. Everyone wanted to hear “Thunder” from Gatti’s glove, but the only “thunder” we got was Gatti falling to the canvas. Now the public knows:

Carlos “Tata” Baldomir is the true welterweight champion of the world.

Before the fight, I gave Gatti the benefit of the doubt that he would last a full 12 rounds. But this was a case of the bigger, stronger man imposing his size against a blown up junior welterweight. Gatti did try, though. He hit Baldomir with everything but his corner stool (which probably wouldn’t have fazed Baldomir anyway). It was a sad performance and a poor way to end a career:

“I don’t know – it was tough for me to get beat like this. I will consider it (retiring),” admitted Gatti afterward. “The way I felt [Saturday], I’m definitely going to think about it.”

I’m not sure what’s there to think about. You lost almost every minute in this fight, and against Floyd Mayweather your performance was worse! Like I said, the “human highlight reel” has run out of film

“The Tuaman” Returns
David Tua, the only man ever to annihilate former heavyweight champion John Ruiz, is set to return against Edward Gutierrez on Wednesday night at Manhattan Center in NYC.

Gutierrez is a tough, crafty veteran who recently gave rising heavyweight prospect J.D. Chapman a real run for his money. What’s good about Tua fighting Gutierrez is that we now have a measuring stick for Tua’s bout. If Tua looks worse then Chapman against Gutierrez, I think it’s the end for the New Zealander.

I bumped into Tua on 42nd street and asked him if would ever consider taking up wrestling. Why would I ask that? His uncle, AFA, was a famous wrestling star for the WWF. Samoans were always considered wild, tough, unpredictable guys in the ring. With the help of his uncle he might make some noise. Tua said:

“I’m really trying to be the best I can be in boxing. But maybe once this chapter in my life is closed … who knows?”

If you are in NYC, check out Gotham Boxing at the Manhattan Center. It’s this Wednesday. You can read more about the card at gothamboxing.com/events.html

Vassiliy Jirov Moves Down
Former world cruiserweight champion and 1996 Olympic gold medalist Vassiliy “Tiger” Jirov (36-3-1, 30 KOs), of Kazakhstan, will appear in a televised 10-round co-feature bout. Since making his move back down to cruiserweight, Jirov feels revitalized and, more importantly, stronger.

“Although I feel I was able to go toe-to-toe with the heavyweights, my natural weight has always been below 200 pounds,” Jirov said. “Now I feel I’m the bigger man against my opponent. The fans will see the same aggressive style that they became accustomed to seeing on ESPN next month, and then I’ll look for that big fight at the end of the year.”

Although Jirov was in a few action packed bouts as a heavyweight, to cash in on his name, he had very little success. He was stopped in nine by light-fisted Michael Moorer, lost a unanimous decision to Joe Mesi and got a draw against Orlin Norris. Not impressive stats.

Now that he’s back down to cruiserweight, he’ll probably gun for the winner of the IBF cruiserweight title clash between Steve Cunningham and Krzysztof Wlodarczyk.

10 Seconds
Shannon Briggs vs. Wladimir Klitschko has been finalized. Briggs was in NYC to sign autographs and put his John Hancock on the contract. I finally got to ask Briggs how he earned his shot. I got an honest answer: “I’m fighting in my home, it’s the Garden, and the honest truth is in NYC I sell tickets.”


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