Anyone see the Ward vs. Gatti fight last night on HBO? One of the best fights of the year. The punch of the night had to be Ward’s left hook to the body that sent Gatti down in the 9th. Great match.
It was definitely the FIGHT of the year. I saw the tape today again and both times was awestrusck. I said fight not boxing match. Those guys beat the shit out of each other. Like Larry Bird said I was humbled by watching the amount of punishment those guys took. Gatti outboxed Ward in the first rounds but that guy is a brawler, just kept coming no matter what. A couple more fights like that one and both fighters will be out for good, no man’s body can withstand so much damage. Round nine is one of the most impressive rounds in the boxing history, I am sure nobody including Gatti’s corner believed that he could recover from that body shot. After the fight Ward said that he felt like dead at the end of the round, he threw all he had at Gatti and the guy was still standing and punching back. By the way, in postmatch interview with Emmanuel Stewart, he said with utmost confidence as it is an obvious fact that Luis will knock out Tyson early. Intersting…
Mickey Ward is true warrior, one of the most underated boxers around. He is all heart, with a devastating left hook. i’m glad he got the win. He deserves a title shot, hopefully someone will give it to him. Another great fight was the Kostya Tzu, Ben Tackie fight. Kostya won by decision.
I watched that last night at like 1am or so. Oh man, i cannot believe the punishment Gatti took and then just kept fighting. How does someone take 4 punches to the face in about .8 seconds and not go down? That fight had me leaping off the couch.
Theres more than likely going to e a re-match. Micey only got a few fights left in him, he can’t keep it much longer. He’s 36 years old, which is ancient for a 140 lb fighter.
He said that if he loses that match he retires.
Now there will be a lot of money in the rematch. As Larry said, after a fight like that those fighters will never be the same and won’t likely match up to a fresh fighter. At least they still can fight each other. Mickey was lucky that Gatti doesn’t have knock out right hand of Kostya. Otherwise with the amound of head punches he took in the beginning of the fight, he would be out in the third and the fight would be over (a possible scenario of a fight Kostya - Mickey).
It was a great damn fight. One of the best of the last few years. Reminded me of the intensity of Hagler-Hearns way back.
gggrrrr Grumbling that I missed this fight. Damn…kicking dirt damn. Been awhile since there was a fight worth watching, too.
Thank god for fightnews.com - looking forward to seeing Lucia Ryker fight again....
Only fight I have seen in the last 10 years or so that was better than Barrera vs Morales in 2000. By the way, Barrera vs Morales II is next month, I think. Both Ward and Gatti are definitive warriors. Can’t wait to see them in a rematch!
The teaped fight Gatt-Ward will be repeated this week on showtime. Barrera-Morales fight will be on pay per view unfortunately.
The Barerra -Morales fight is on June 22nd. For all you boxing fans, add this link to your favorites:
fightnews.com
It is updated all the time, with results posted as soon as the decision is read. Also lots of good interviews, and the latest rankings.
About the Ward-Gatti fight. Frank Cappuchino is the man with steel nerves, it is unbelievable that he didn’t stop the fight in 9th round when Gatti got about 5 straight punches in the head.
By far the match of the year if not decade. Two ass kicking warriors not giving an inch and showing tons of heart. What a body shot that was and what was so amazing was Gatti coming back from it. Gatti would have won the fight had he not gone down and the point taken away form him earlier for low blows. Both fighters showed lots of class after the fight, also. Sure beats the hell out of the dancefests heavyweights participate in. Lets hope for a rematch.