Gatti looks to “Thunder” past Leija, Mayweather Showdown Nears
by
Jason Herron
1/27 - The week before the Super Bowl is usually pretty calm in the sports world. The days are normally spent talking about the upcoming showdown between the top two teams in the NFL. This weekend, the talk gives way to thunder.
Saturday night marks the return of Arturo “Thunder” Gatti and his action-packed style of fighting. His opponent, Jesse James Leija, is also known for his exciting in-ring technique. Boxing fans everywhere are bracing for this thrilling showdown.
Gatti, (No. 1 Ring Magazine, 38-6, 29 KOs), needs a victory to set
up
his first pay-per-view fight against the undefeated, Floyd Mayweather,
(Ring
Magazine No. 2 pound-for-pound), later this summer. Leija has played
the
spoiler role to perfection before, and will need to do so again.
Gatti, the
WBC belt-holder, is the heavy favorite.
Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City is already sold out for this
weekend’s
battle. In the AC, Gatti is a superstar. Two of the three epic
battles
between Gatti and Micky Ward took place in the city, and both were
standing-room only. The crowd will be heavily pro-Gatti.
Leija, (No. 9 Ring Magazine, 46-6-2, 19 Kos) has been the underdog
before and has thrived in that role. In his previous fight, on the
Gatti-Leo Dorin under card, Leija pummeled top prospect Francisco
Bojado for
ten rounds. The upset victory (predicted by talkingboxing) gave
Leija’s
career the boost it desperately needed.
Kosta Tszyu, (Ring Magazine junior welterweight champion) and
Mayweather
will be watching this fight very closely. A Gatti win makes things
even
more exciting in the best division in boxing today.
Prediction: Another Gatti classic. Leija is game, but will eventually
be
out-gunned. Look for Leija to make things interesting early, but
Gatti’s
power will take over in the middle rounds. Gatti by late round
stoppage.
Under Card: The first fight on HBO’s telecast might be the best of
the
two. Kassim Ouma, (Ring Magazine No. 1, 20-1-1, 13 Kos), will defend
his
IBF junior middleweight title against hard-hitting Kofi Jantuah. Both
fighters are hungry and looking to make a great first impression in
their
HBO debut.
Jantuah (No. 8 Ring Magazine, 28-1, 18 Kos) is fresh off his first
round
destruction of highly regarded Marco Antonio Rubio. The one-punch
knockout
stole the under card of last year’s mega-fight between Bernard Hopkins
and
Oscar De La Hoya.
An impressive victory for Ouma would put the pressure on junior
middleweight champion, Winky Wright, to give the young fighter from
Uganda a
shot at the real championship.
Prediction: Can Ouma box and stay away from Jantuah’s power? If he
can, he
should roll up the points and cruise to victory. The boxer will out
box the
puncher in a great match-up. Ouma by unamious decision in a pretty
good
scrap.
Both fights can be seen on HBO’s World Championship Boxing this
Saturday
night at 9:45 pm ET.
Jason Herron can be reached at: jasondfd@hotmail.com.
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