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Ringside At Gatti Ward III - "Three Times A Charm"

By Danny Serratelli, ringside

The time had come for Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward to do it a third and final time, and once again the two warriors did not disappoint. Initially Gatti did not want a third fight, but he had given Ward his word after the second fight that if Ward wanted to do it one more time, he would. Ward gave Gatti the rematch, and now Ward wanted Gatti one more time, So Arturo kept his promise to Micky and the fight was made.

After the fight Arturo Gatti said, he knows the fans loved the first fight, but he definitely felt that this was the hardest fight of the three. Ward's advisor, Lou DiBella made a statement for Micky Ward after the fight, he said that Micky is glad to be concluding his career with a fight like this. He said he was done, and that he'd say what he had to say to Arturo later in the emergency room. Being ringside at all three of these wars, I still think the first fight was like nothing I've ever seen before, but the third fight was definitely more entertaining, and competitive than the second, and once again should be considered for fight of the year.

The consensus going into the 3rd fight was that Gatti would box to a decision win much like he did in the second bout. Gatti won by decision, but it was hardly the boxing clinic his trainer Buddy McGirt wanted him to put on. Unbelievably, according to punch stat numbers, both fighters threw more punches, 845 for Gatti, and 639 for Ward, than they had in either of the first two bouts. The difference in the third fight, as in the second fight, was Gatti's boxing ability, and his ability to make Ward miss, as well as Arturo's ability to take the final rounds.

The numbers and the scorecards suggest that this was a case of Gatti outboxing Ward fairly easily, however the view at ringside presented another picture. In the second fight, after Ward was dropped, and his eardrum was punctured, Gatti outboxed him for the rest of the night, and Ward's will kept him in the fight. In this fight, Ward seemed a lot more dangerous throughout the fight. Most ringside observers felt that the fight was a lot closer than the scores 97-92, and 96-93 twice, for Gatti, suggested. I felt it was very close, but my scorecard at the end of the fight also read 97-92. However, several of the rounds Gatti took on my card were very close and could have went the other way. I had it a 1 point fight for Gatti after the knockdown in the 6th, but it appeared that Gatti did enough to sweep the final four rounds. He did on my card, and on 2 of the three judges' cards, with only one judge giving Ward the 8th.

The first couple of rounds were quiet, considering the action in most of these fights. Gatti was trying to box, but Ward kept the pressure on, and his hands very high. Although he was moving nicely, Gatti appeared to have trouble touching Micky, and Micky was blocking most of his punches. Ward looked like the stronger fighter early, but he was also having trouble landing due to Arturo's movement. It appeared that both fighters and trainers did their homework and both came with a game plan for their fighters to execute. Ward, sticking to his game plan started catching Arturo with inside uppercuts when Arturo tried to get a breather low and inside as he has done in other fights. He also worked his left hook to the body well again, to slow Arturo down, and we all know that Arturo doesn't need too much persuasion to stop moving and start banging.

By the 5th round, both fighters were landing a lot more often. Whether Micky was starting to slow Arturo down or Arturo just wanted to fight, it was clear by this point that the fans were going to get what everyone has come to expect from these guys, another war. Arturo was landing and throwing more, while Micky seemed to be throwing the harder shots. There was also blood by the 5th around Ward's eye. To everyone's surprise, Gatti got through the night without getting cut.

By the 6th it started to appear that Gatti was taking control of the fight, but just when you thought Arturo may begin to coast Ward unleashed a few bombs that caught and dropped Gatti right before the end of the 6th. This was not a questionable knockdown, it was clean, and Gatti admitted later, that he was hurt when the bell sounded and he walked back to his corner at the end of the 6th round. At the start of the 7th round Ward came out blazing and looking to seize the moment. This was Ward's chance. He had to suspect that Gatti would come firing back, and he'd be right, but in the toughest parts of the fight, like the 7th, both Gatti, and Ward had to suck it up and threw what they believed to be their broken right hands with authority. There was back and forth action for the remainder of the fight, but Arturo boxed and won the final rounds. They hugged before the 10th, which was their 30th and final round, and they finished the last round the way it would have been scripted, trading shots and brawling. No coasting or clinching to end this one, they both appeared to finish with all they had left. It was a nice end to a nice trilogy. After the fight, Ward stuck to his plan and announced his retirement.

Gatti later stated that after he broke the hand, he found himself in a situation where he had to do whatever was necessary to survive and win the fight. He hurt the hand in the 3rd round, and his advice from trainer Buddy McGirt's was to work the jab and left hook. He tried but admittedly got brave again, throwing the right often, and with authority later in the fight. He said he thinks he killed it and damaged it pretty bad. Arturo, had surgery on the same right hand after the last fight with Micky, and had it repaired a couple times before that as well. Ward went to the hospital for what was believed to be a broken hand, but it turned out to only be badly bruised.

Believe it or not, Gatti said this was only the beginning for him. At the post fight press conference, HBO announced that prior to this fight they had signed Arturo to a multi fight deal with the network. Gatti also announced that he is getting married next year. He will have to wait for the hand to heal before he comes back, but once he does I'm sure his mind will be on undisputed junior welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu. Gatti made $1.7 million for this fight and Ward made $750,000, and they earned every penny of it.

CO-FEATURE:

Heavyweights: Dominick Guinn 21-0, 16KO's, from Hot Springs, AK, won by KO at 1:21 of round 7 over Michael Grant 37-2, 28 KO's, from Norristown, PA.

UNDERCARD:

Junior Welterweights: Scott Depompe 23-4, 10 KO's, from Kinnelon, NJ, swept on all 3 cards in a unanimous decision win over Arthur Medina 6-9, 3 KO's, from Ft. Collins, CO.

Heavyweights: Malik Scott 16-0, 9KO's, from Philadelphia, PA, swept on all 3 cards in a unanimous decision over Otis Tisdale 21-9-1, 13 KO's from Charlotte, NC.

Heavyweights: Calvin Brock 14-0, 12 KO's, from Charlotte, NC won by KO at 1:40 of round 1 over Jim Strohl 24-3, 20 KO's from St. Louis, MO.

Junior Middleweights: Rasheem Brown 9-0, 8 KO's, from Philadelphia, PA won by KO at 2:11 of round 1 over Josh Onyango 11-4, 10 KO's, from Trenton, NJ

Originally Reported By: Boxing Insider - 06.10.2003 02:05 AM