"Thunder scores a TKO; Damgaard truly earns his "Lionheart".
By Mike Indri
Retired Boxers Foundation
People were questioning Arturo Gatti, and what he had left; there were also questions about Thomas Damgaard, and his abilities. Both fighters answered for themselves in a dramatic way during their International Boxing Association (IBA) welterweight championship battle.
Broadcast live on HBO, this knockdown-drag out style fight thrilled the near sellout crowd (11,568 to be exact) at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City; from round one’s opening bell, until referee Lindsey Paige jumped in at the 2:54 mark of round eleven to save a weary and stunned Thomas Damgaard.
It was labeled "The Warrior is Back" by Main Events Promotions, and yes - Arturo Gatti is back; but, also tonight the boxing world saw that Thomas Damgaard has arrived!
For eleven rounds these two proud warriors battled and fought as if their lives depended on it. Gatti prevailed as the fight’s winner and gets the IBA welterweight belt. Although he didn’t win, there is no way Damgaard can be called a loser.
From the fight’s onset Gatti boxed well and reddened the Danish European champion’s face with solid combinations and several big right hands. Damgaard never wavered, continued his pressure and stayed right in front of boxing’s most popular and exciting fighter. Damgaard had moments of his own as well. While not as big a power puncher, Damgaard found Gatti to be an easy target and stayed aggressive. By the midway point of the fight Gatti’s hammer like punches left Damgaard’s face a bloody; with a nasty cut on his right eye and severe facial sweeling; yet Damgaard kept coming.
By rounds seven and eight Damgaard’s forehead was now bleeding profusely; yet he kept coming. Both fighters traded bombs in round nine, and a battle of attrition was beginning to unfold - who will last?
Damgaard appeared to have Gatti hurt in round ten, which only made "Thunder" that much more dangerous a fighter.
With all the 11,568 on their feet and cheering on their hero in "Gatti Hall", New Jersey’s beloved fighter pounded away at the apparently hurt Damgaard; who, nevertheless, keeps coming forward.
Damgaard, now sensing desperation in round ten, holds onto Gatti and pounds away - drawing a one point deduction from referee Paige. Gatti answers by blasting away; with an injured right hand that has long gone numb. Smashing Damgaard’s crimson red and swollen face, Gatti’s realizes his foe is hurt, and physically spent, and delivers a crushing right hand to the temple. With nothing left Damgaard reels into the ropes, hurt and stunned. Damgaard struggles on unsteady legs and the crowd erupts into a wild frenzy as the referee waves off the ensuing Gatti; signaling an end to this hard fought battle. A good stoppage of a great fight!
Gatti, now 40-7 with 31 KO’s, will always be a champion; but has another belt to prove it. Damgaard, who suffered his first professional loss (37-1, 27 KO’s) gained as much as he has from any of his wins. While not victorious, Damgaard WAS damn good!
In the co-feature bout popular featherweight Jason "The American Boy" Litzau unleashed some of his own thunder on a very resilient and stubborn Carlos Contreras, from Mexico. Litzau looked strong and quick, hammering Contreras from pilar to post until referee Michael Ortega smartly stopped the one-sided contest at 1:17 in round six. Litzau remained perfect at 17-0, registering his eleventh victory by way of knockout; Contreras saw his record fall to 20-12-3, with 13 KO’s. The likable Litzau promised an exciting fight and delivered; with his entertaining, non-stop action, style.
On the Main Events undercard……..
Promising welterweight prospect Henry Crawford opened the show in grand fashion; improving to 9-0-1 against a very tough Luis Santos (9-2, 6 KO’s).
Crawford, a native of Paterson, NJ, overcame a first round knockdown and powered his way to a unanimous six round technical decision win. Displaying fast hands and sharp, powerful combinations the skilled Crawford hurt Santos often, flooring the tough Mexican fighter in round four and had him bleeding over both eyes before an accidental head butt stopped the fight in the sixth and final round. An impressive win against a tough opponent for the highly touted Crawford.
Unefeated heavyweight Malik Scott, improved to 24-0 (10 KO’s) on his very slow journey towards contention with an uninspiring eight round unanimous decision over Kendrick Releford of Fort Worth, TX, who fell to 13-7-1, 5 KO’s.
Talented, up-and-coming heavyweight B. J. Flores remained undefeated (15-0-1, 10 KO’s) with an impressive eight round unanimous decision over a very game Jermell Barnes. The Buffalo, NY, native Barnes, though outmatched, gave it his all in dropping to 17-11 with 4 KO’s.
In a four round super middleweight bout, Wayne Johnsen improved to 10-1 (5 KO’s) against Edward Hemphill (3-2, 1 KO). Johnsen, fighting out of Lyndhurst, NJ, narrowly escaped with a majority decision; in a fight which brought more boos than cheers.
The crowd was brought back into the mix quickly with the next fight.
Light heavyweight Rudy Markussen, from Denmark, crushed an overwhelmed Brock Stodden; sending the hurt fighter to the canvas early in round one and ending the onslaught for good at 1:19 of round two. The gutsy Stodden is now 17-11-1 (9 KO’s), while the dangerous Markussen notched his twentieth knockout; complimenting his impressive 32-1 professional record.
Heavyweight action saw Mariusz Wach, from Cracow, Poland pound out an exciting four round unanimous decision against Adele Olakanye. While Olakanye, a native of Silver Springs, MD saw his record drop to 6-5-2 (4 KO’s), Poland’s newest answer for Andrew Golota improved to 6-0, with 2 KO’s.
In a battle of female bantamweights Noriko Kariya thrilled the crowd with a convincing four round unanimous decision win over a willing, yet less skilled, Maria Lucy Contreras. Kariya, now 3-0, displayed a strong and technically sound boxing style which could make her a force to be reckoned with in the near future.
A great night of boxing brought by Main Events at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The biggest winner tonight was the sport of boxing, and it’s fans.