Gatti KOs Leija; Ouma Decisions Jantuah
by David P. Greisman
There’s an old saying that journalists apply to the news: if it bleeds, it leads. Tonight, at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, with renowned bleeders Arturo “Thunder” Gatti and “Jesse” James Leija facing off in a super lightweight bout, and esteemed cutman Joe Souza (who works for both fighters) choosing to be in the corner of Leija (the man he has worked for longer), media and fans alike were expecting, nay, hoping for a thrilling war and possible fight-of-the-year candidate.
Instead, Gatti (39-6 with 30 victories via knockout), whose career has been resurrected by trainer Buddy McGirt, jabbed 229 times (by CompuBox estimate) on the way to a fifth-round knockout victory over his veteran opponent. It was another impressive showing for the native of New Jersey, who after earning the WBC 140-lb. belt in a decision over Gianluca Branco a year ago had defended once successfully with a second-round body punch kayo of Leonard Dorin, and who is looking to set up a fiscal windfall by meeting Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in a pay-per-view event this summer.
On that same July 2004 card in which Gatti floored Dorin, Leija was supposed to be playing the role of experienced champ on the way down, providing a name on the ledger for prospect Francisco “Panchito” Bojado, but Leija didn’t comply, earning a decision and the opportunity to meet Gatti. Tonight, it was uncertain if Leija, now 47-7-2 (19), would repeat by derailing Gatti’s championship reign, and after failing to beat referee Earl Brown’s ten count one minute and forty-eight seconds into round five, it became apparent that the only thing that could stop the Gatti/Mayweather showdown is “Pretty Boy” Floyd’s legal problems.
In the first round, the two men mainly felt each other out, shooting jabs with Gatti landing the occasional right cross to take the lead. The second stanza began with both fighters bouncing and throwing more power shots, the best being a Gatti left hook and, later, a short right hand to Leija’s cheek. In the third, Leija attempted to duck under Gatti’s onslaught of jabs, trying to get inside and past the taller man’s reach advantage in order to land. Gatti responded with lefts to Leija’s body and head, and then countered the advancing Leija thrice in a row with straight rights. The crowd began chanting for Gatti again, as they did in the first round, and he jumped to a three-rounds-to-none lead.
Round four was by far Leija’s best round, thanks in part to Gatti dropping his left hand in order to jab more quickly, opening himself up to the occasional right. Still, it was Gatti’s round, as he landed cleaner and harder, keeping his opponent at enough of a distance that he could jab effectively and dodge any incoming shots.
In the fifth and final round, Leija came out of his corner aggressively, as urged by trainer Ronnie Shields, but two missed Gatti jabs set up a right cross that landed flush on Leija’s jaw, knocking him to the canvass just thirty seconds in. Gatti looked to close off his staggered rival, letting himself get hit in return, but the bigger, stronger champion sent Leija down for good with a left, right and another left to the top of the head. Leija got up on one knee and held onto the ropes as the referee counted him out, and the match was over, with nary a drop of blood in sight.
“Leija is a very crafty fighter, very experienced,” said Gatti in a post-fight interview, noting that he and McGirt had noticed that the way to beat Leija was with the jab, and they had worked on it in the gym. Gatti landed 82 of his jabs, setting the stage for the power shots to come.
“Once I started landing the right hand, then of course the left hooks followed up, and the big bombs are coming,” Gatti recalled.
In the televised undercard, the anticipated all-African shootout between Kassim “The Dream” Ouma of Uganda and Kofi Jantuah of Ghana was instead a one-sided boxing clinic, with Ouma earning a twelve-round unanimous decision to retain his IBF junior middleweight title belt.
Ouma outhustled, outboxed, outlanded, and just plain had more endurance than Jantuah, who earned his shot with a quick one-round knockout of Marco Antonio Rubio late last year. Negating Jantuah’s power by keeping in close, blocking punches with his gloves, and dancing, bobbing and weaving, Ouma deflated his opponent, giving him the same look that Shane Mosley had on his face during “Sugar” Shane’s first loss to “Winky” Wright.
With the victory, Ouma moved to 21-1-1 (13), sending Jantuah to 28-2 (18), as well as back to the drawing board. Ouma made it look easy, and has set himself up for good future match-ups in the talent-rich 154-pound division. His next opponent has not yet been decided, but with consensus champ Wright moving up to middleweight to fight Felix “Tito” Trinidad this Spring, the speedy Ouma could be looking towards unification.
It was a surprising night, with two bouts that seemed destined for hardcore action ending up as tactical fights, but for the two winners, it was jobs well-done, on to the next, and as long as the fans are pleased, there is nothing wrong with that.
