By David P. Greisman

Prodigiously skilled athletes like Philadelphia Eagles’ wide receiver Terrell Owens and new WBC super lightweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., are occasionally in possession of confidence so overwhelming that it can be construed as hubris, arrogance that easily agitates and perturbs.

In the case of Mayweather, who beat Arturo Gatti this past Saturday at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, his successful sixth round technical knockout of one of the most popular boxers in the sport served as public justification of his brashness. Over the eighteen minutes he spent utterly destroying the man known as a "Blood and Guts Warrior" and a "Human Highlight Film". Mayweather provided an exhibition for why he has spent much of his professional career near the top of pundits' pound-for-pound lists.

This week's edition of Fighting Words focuses on this past weekend's Gatti/Mayweather pay-per-view, as I speculate about the futures of both the victor and his victim. Inside The 10 Count , I will comment about Vivian Harris' loss to Carlos Maussa, Calvin Brock's "work" fight against Kenny Craven, Ivan Calderon, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and other news from this past week.

Lightning Strikes, Thunder Crashes

Not that a creative marketing angle was needed, but the promoters behind this event decided that with Gatti's nickname being "Thunder," it would be witty to advertise the night as a battle between Mayweather's speed and Gatti's power, "Thunder vs. Lightning."

Mayweather stepped up to the table in selling the fight, doing enough trash talking to make a professional wrestler proud, and implying that lightning strikes, while thunder just makes noise.

In a virtual wipeout that was already a mismatch by the end of the second round, Mayweather landed at will with combinations, dodged whatever Gatti threw his way and countered with fast hooks that led to further punishment.

Gatti's trainer Buddy McGirt, who nearly stepped into the ring to stop the fight during the ninth round of Gatti's first meeting with Micky Ward but thought better of it, was wise and properly protective in stopping the bout after the sixth round.

Mayweather was potshotting Gatti at will, and as the bell rang at the halfway point, Arturo stumbled in the direction of his corner, his eyes closed, his body damaged, unable to find exactly where he needed to go nor fully able to travel there.

Gatti was destroyed in the fashion that Mayweather promised, and the nerve that "Pretty Boy" Floyd showed in being carried to the ring by gladiators to the tune of Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" had been backed up by action.

The crowd, favorable to Jersey City resident Gatti, had of course booed Mayweather's entrance, only to be silenced by the whiz kid from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Now that the match is over, Floyd has triumphed in his first pay-per-view event, and although his ability to fill an arena is still questionable, his skills between the ropes have been showcased. While he may still be a villain in the eyes of many, he may now be respected, watched, and perhaps properly paid as he receives fights with the best challenges at 140 and 147.

Mayweather's options include Ricky Hatton, who was in the arena watching, scouting for his next mega-fight. Hatton is recognized as the true champion of the junior welterweights after his defeat of longtime king Kostya Tszyu, and it would be interesting to see if Hatton could smother Mayweather like he did Tszyu, or if Floyd would again be too fast, too good.

Floyd could also have a rematch with unified lightweight champion Diego Corrales, a man that Mayweather absolutely destroyed and with whom bad blood still exists. Since that day in January of 2000, Corrales has gotten past the domestic violence arrest that distracted him and later landed him in jail. He went forward and resurrected his career with fantastic victories over Acelino Freitas and Jose Luis Castillo. Whether the result would be similar, with Floyd knocking Corrales to the canvass another five times, would need to be seen.

Other opponents exist at welterweight, such as Zab Judah, Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya (if the Golden Boy ever fights again). In the time since he beat champions and warriors like Genaro Hernandez, Jesus Chavez, Carlos Hernandez and Jose Luis Castillo, Mayweather's ledger has been filled with names like Philip N'dou and Henry Bruseles. Only the best and the brightest (and those that will pay the most) should test a fighter who appears to be this generation's Sugar Ray Leonard.

As for Gatti, he had stated prior to the fight that with his problems making weight, he would take a bout at 147 and see where his career went from there. While Gatti is talented in his own right, his limitations have been shown, the "seventh way to defeat him" that Mayweather promised to exploit has been exhibited.

Gatti's next opponent should be someone durable, on the level of a Chris Smith or David Estrada, men whose last fights were losses to Sharmba Mitchell and Shane Mosley, respectively. Arturo could sell out Atlantic City fighting anybody, and he may still have the ability to win a title belt at 140 should he return there (more on that later).

The 10 Count

1. Vivian Harris came into the ring as a highly touted but mostly unseen champion, and his bout against Carlos Maussa, an awkward Colombian fighter that had been knocked out by Miguel Cotto in December 2003, was to be a match that, although short on the financial payout, was to give exposure to Harris's talent and supposed right to lay partial claim to the 140 pound throne.

Under the pressure, though, Harris squandered everything that he had worked for in the past and possibly any glory that could have come to him in the future. Emanuel Steward, Harris's expert trainer and manager, did everything he could to calm Harris down and give him a strategy that would guide him to victory, but Harris's immaturity and emotions got the best of him. Maussa threw a left hook that hit Harris' chin right on the button, and after the referee counted to ten, the WBA had a new, strange titlist.

It would be surprising if Maussa held onto his belt for long, although his style, a combination of Ricardo Mayorga-like wide hooks and former pro wrestler Razor Ramon's demonstrative machismo, could give inexperienced fighters fits. My father was quick to point out that should Arturo Gatti want to regain a belt at junior welterweight, Maussa would be the ideal opponent. As Steward attempted to advise Harris, Maussa is open to short left hooks and body shots, weapons that Gatti has long possessed.

2. I could be wrong, although I rarely admit it, but Harris's complaints that he was hit behind the head while down by Maussa appear to be an excuse by a guy who otherwise has admitted that he blew it. I've looked at the replays multiple times, and it looks like Maussa's punch made impact with the bottom rope, but not Harris. And if Harris is going to moan about being hit behind the head, then this scribe would like to point out that the referee's count began late, and that Harris was actually down for a count of fifteen, not ten.

3. The Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. squash spree continues, with the kid earning his twentieth straight win by defeating Ruben Galvan via fourth-round technical knockout. Galvan is just another in a line of ham-and-eggers served up as fodder, and his record was padded with three wins (and one loss) against Ryan Maraldo, the sacrificial lamb that kid Chavez whooped on the undercard of March's Erik Morales/Manny Pacquiao event. Galvan was able to give Chavez some difficulty by remaining active, peppering him with arm punches and taking brief advantage of the fact that the 19 year old son-of-a-phenom is not able to fight for all three minutes of each round.

4. Calvin Brock's year has been going well, highlighted by a knockout of Clifford Etienne in January and a unanimous decision over Jameel McCline in April, the latter of which included Brock getting up off the canvass to take the victory. On Saturday's undercard, though, the Boxing Banker gained little besides the W and a paycheck, as he faced a major step down in his level of competition by facing Kenny Craven, a journeyman who had been knocked out by The Beans (Butter- and Vaughn, although not Rowan Atkinson). Adding insult to simplicity, his TKO of Craven was not included in full on the broadcast, meaning that aside from a brief clip of the action, one of the better recent heavyweight prospects will likely have to wait until the next ESPN PPV (tentatively scheduled for November) to be seen by television audiences again.

5. Ivan Calderon stuck and moved his way to a twelve round unanimous decision over Gerardo Verde to retain his WBO minimumweight title. It appeared initially that viewers were going to see two of the smallest fighters in professional boxing go at it aggressively as an early treat, but after the first couple of rounds Calderon settled into his typical role of slick boxing counter puncher.

6. Over the years that the heavyweight division had been in its state of drought, some in the industry had lamented that sports such as basketball had taken away many of the big men that could otherwise have laced up the gloves. This situation was turned on its head for one individual case on Saturday when Kendall Gill, a 37 year-old guard/forward in the NBA, dropped some poundage and made his pugilistic debut, albeit as a cruiserweight. Gill knocked down Trevor Biley three times en route to a first round victory, and it will be interesting to see what will occur with a basketball player-turned-boxer, as opposed to Roy Jones Jr., who was a boxer that once hit the hardwood for a game on the same day of his 1996 fight with Eric Lucas.

7. It appears that the rematch between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo could be coming sooner rather than later, thanks to a buyout of the option previously exercised by Acelino Freitas and his promoter Artie Pelullo for a rematch of Freitas's tenth round knockout loss to Corrales in 2004. Word is that Corrales/Castillo II will take place on PPV on October 8, and the possibility of a recurrence of the empty seats from their first war is absolutely zilch.

8. Slated to take place on the undercard of Corrales/Castillo II are rematches of two of the other better fights this year, with Jesus Chavez against Carlos "Famoso" Hernandez (Chavez won by split decision in May) and Jorge Arce versus Hussein Hussein (Arce walloped Hussein, forcing a corner stoppage).

9. Word is that the lawsuit against Murad Muhammad by Manny Pacquiao has been settled, and Pacquiao is now free to sign with whatever promoter he chooses. This is good news for Pacquiao, an extremely popular warrior that had been seeing limited paydays thanks to alleged difficulties with Muhammad.

10. How poor is the relationship between Chris Byrd and Don King that the IBF heavyweight titlist hasn't fought since last November and has yet to find a satisfactory opponent to face this year?

Next Week's Fighting Words - Mid-Year Musings, Half-Annual Awards

With half of what has so far been a spectacular year now complete, next week's edition of Fighting Words will review the first six months of 2005 and delve out awards, many of which will be dubious. Just as important to note, next week Fighting Words will return to its normal Monday slot.