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"So Are You Floyd" – Sayeth God
WED June 29, BUSTER PARIS - Floyd was on his knees and seemed to be in tears. He was yelling out that God is great – God is great - and his corner was trying to help him back up.
The fight was over.
On the other side of the ring the words were pushed desperately through Gatti’s lips: “One more round” – both his eyes were almost swollen shut.
McGirt cradled the puffy faced warriors head and wouldn’t let Arturo continue after the 6th round.
“That’s it baby” was what Buddy sweetly sang back.
On Saturday June 25, 2005 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ what many experts (expect me) thought would happen – did happen. “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather completely dominated his fight against Arturo “Thunder” Gatti.
It was a clinic on how to get off first and hitting wherever and whenever you want. I started to think that Mayweather was able to teleport himself around the ring because there’s no way a human being can be that fast.
At the start of all this I freely admitted that the journalist in me was taking a breather. The boxing fan in me would be at the helm and I wasn’t impartial about this one.
My reasoning in picking Gatti was sound. I thought – and still think that Gatti is one hell of a tough fighter and he has this “thing” he’s able to tap into. He digs deep into himself and just pulls “it” out and damages anything he hits. We’re talking bloodied, cut and broken fists and he just keeps coming at you. That was a big part of what I was betting on.
The flaw in my reasoning was the man in the other corner. I made the ginormous mistake of underestimating Floyd Mayweather Jr.
I doubted Floyds experience against a brawler and I doubted his willingness to mix it up.
Did I forget both his 2002 fights against Jose Luis Castillo? - And like Max Kellerman said we had no idea at that time that Castillo was such a great fighter. Did I forget his May 22, 2004 fight with DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Courley?
And what about his January 22, 2005 fight with Henry Bruseles where I wrote:
“…in round four he stood in the center of the ring where he showed us that he could fight in a phone booth. He and Henry stood there shoulder-to-shoulder and head to head as they exchanged punches in a Roberto Duran tough as nails style. That showed me that Floyd is not afraid to get hit and is not afraid to mix it up…” [article]
Did I forget all this or just ignore it or was I too blindly pro Gatti to think clearly? I’ll have to have a serious chat with the boxing fan in me and set him straight – however – he’s kind of a knucklehead and wont listen.
I hope you had the chance to read Carl Rice’s Gatti v Mayweather: Do The Math – for a couple of reasons:
1. It’s a great article.
2. Carl was pretty much dead on right about the outcome of the fight.
3. His sidebar at the end is important.
Hey Carl – I did the math - after the fight of course - and here’s some figures for us all to chew on:
Gatti threw 245 punches and landed 41 – that’s only 17%
Mayweather threw 295 punches and landed 168 – that’s 57%
Floyd performed pretty much flawlessly. I’m looking at my notes of the fight and I must have written the words ‘fast’ and ‘speed’ like a million times. I simply just can’t get over the how fast he is.
Gatti only landed 41 shots. C’mon – Mayweather’s got to be a teleporter. His defenses are so incredibly sharp and fast that he was nearly never there when Arturo’s fists arrived.
Mayweather landed 168 shots – that’s 57% of what he threw and they were all blindingly fast. I feel badly for the company whose gloves he wears because you’ll never get to read the brand. We’re lucky to even have noticed the color.
Here’s he 5 cent retelling of the bout:
Round 1 we saw Gatti fighting in a very low crouch and jabbing towards Mayweather’s mid section. He was going for the body as planned, but Mayweather had a plan of his own and apparently the ability to bend light and not be where he was only a second before.
Then there was that terribly confusing moment when Arturo lost sight of the first rule of boxing – protect yourself at all times. Floyd had Arturo’s head held down and Gatti was waiting for the referee Earl Morton to break it up or at least tell Floyd to not do that, but there were no warnings or comments coming and Mayweather did what he should – he hit Gatti who wasn’t paying attention and Gatti got pissed.
I thought that round 2 would find Arturo steamed enough to come out brawling, but he continued to try and box, continued to miss and began getting assaulted by Floyds lightening fast hands.
Rounds 3 and 4 pretty much mirrored the 2nd and you knew that Gatti was going to need to brawl this one out. No way could he compete with Mayweather at this style and pace and we begin to notice Gatti’s eyes are becoming mere slits…
Round 5 Arturo was landing some shots, but general consensus is that Floyd was letting him connect so he could set up some counter punching or just to break up the monotony of being the first one to land punches for the past 4 rounds.
Round 6 Gatti comes out strong, great head and upper body movement and I’m thinking finally this is it and then lightening struck. Red blurs coming at the end of Mayweather’s arms landing beautifully hard and thumping on Gatti’s head and body. Floyd’s pinpointing his shots to wherever and whenever he wants.
McGirt stopped the fight after 6.
“That’s it baby”. It was a beautiful victory for a beautiful fighter.
After all was said and done it turned out there was no good guy vs. bad guy – they both happen to be good guys and it was especially pleasing to hear and see a victorious and gracious Mayweather speak so well about Gatti after the fight – calling him a great champion, saying that he’ll be champion again and respectfully calling him “Thunder”.
There’s no longer any doubt in my mind - “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather is one of the best pound for pound fighters out there and he has a long and electrifying career ahead of him and I’m looking forward to it.
Floyd cried out that God is great – you know God’s up there saying “So are you Floyd…so are you.”
So what’s next for Gatti?
Whatever it is I’ll be right there singin’ along with AC/DC:
“Thunder! – na na na naaa na na naaa na Thunder!…”
Buster Paris can be reached at bparis@talkingboxing.com
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