Frank Sinatra Was to the Music World What Gatti Vs Ward I was to Boxing – Sheer Magic!
By “Big” Bill Bradshaw
The Year: 2002 was a landmark year for the world of boxing. Lennox Lewis pounded the shadow of the once great Iron Mike Tyson in a bout that pitched the overrated against the over the hill. Floyd Mayweather, JR. was gifted an outrageously bad decision against Jose Luis Castillo while Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera followed up their 2000 fight of the year by doing it all again in June. Oscar De La Hoya answered the questions asked by Fernando Vargas and, up amongst the big men, David Tua punished Michael Moorer, Evander Holyfield took the honors against Hasim Rahman and Frans Botha fell to the sheer power of Wladimir Klitschko the younger. But a fight took place in May of that year which would outshine all other events in the ring and find its place in history as arguably the greatest boxing match of all time. It was the year of Arturo “Thunder” Gatti and “Irish” Mickey Ward.
The Fight: On paper, Gatti vs Ward should have been an exciting but irrelevant bout. Ward had taken the WBU Light Welterweight belt from “The Shamrock Express” Shea Neary in London two years earlier but had lost it, badly, in his first defense to Antonio Diaz. Since then, he had notched up two run of the mill wins and had dropped a fight to Jesse James Lejia. Gatti, on the other hand, had only fought once since his brutal beating at the hands of Oscar De La Hoya in 2001 and that was no more than a 4 round sparring session against Terron Millett. The fight took place in the Mohegan Sun Casino and the spirits of Indian braves were most certainly present in the ring as both fighters threw caution to the wind and went toe to toe round after pulsating round. By the time the battle came kicking and screaming into the 9th round, everyone present knew they were savoring something truly special. The three minutes that followed defied the very laws of physics, nature, sanity and endurance. There are bouts that swing like pendulums but this was a round for the ages. How both men made it to the final bell will be forever a testament to everything that is great about this game we love. In the end, Ward won by majority decision but it mattered little. The world was the real winner on the night.
The legacy: When it came to the great fights, many people felt that Marvelous Marvin Hagler vs Tommy Hearns stood apart from the other legendary bouts. There were those that felt the first Erik Morales vs Marco Antonio Barrera humdinger took the title but, as the years have passed, most folk feel that Ward vs Gatti 1 was the single greatest event ever to transpire in a boxing ring. I am certainly one of them. The men would fight twice more but events outside the ring would inject poignancy into that May night in 2002 that would lend a bitter sweet edge into its countless viewings. Firstly, it seemed only fitting that a friendship would develop between the men and that bond strengthened as the years went by.
Arturo Gatti died in truly troubling circumstances on July 11th 2009 whilst on holidays in Brazil. The cause of death was listed as suicide although this verdict is still contested by those close to ring legend. The boxing world still mourns his loss. Ward would be the subject of a successful motion picture “The Fighter” and, at the time of writing, there are talks about a follow up movie that would concentrate entirely on the trilogy with Gatti. The first fight transcended boxing and became a moment in the history of the human spirit. It remains a masterpiece of pugilism and fitting tribute to the men who carried us through it.
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