By Matteo Alderson
Shame on Floyd, he should have went to the Gatti-Leija fight. It’s almost a boxing ritual to show up to your opponents last fight before you face each other and Floyd was nowhere to be seen. Mayweather should be begging for the fight. Floyd needs Gatti’s star power and popularity in order to increase his own because for all his talent and accomplishments, Pretty Boy Floyd’s career has been kind of a disappointment.
He should have already crossed over to super stardom. Look at him, he is a good looking former Olympian who is undefeated and has wins over a prime Angel Manfredy, a bull in Jose Luis Castillo, an underrated Genaro (Chicanito) Hernandez, and a still baaad Diego Corrales, but surprisingly Gatti is the one trying to push the fight. Mayweather better take care of business and make this fight happen before Gatti changes his mind and decides to go a different route.
Yes, Mayweather is one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world and yes, he has some name recognition after fighting almost half of his career on HBO, but Floyd still doesn’t bring that much to the table. The fact that only four thousand fans attended his fight with Bruseles is tantamount to Mayweather’s lack of mainstream appeal. Seriously when was the last time Floyd drew a big crowd? It was probably when he fought Carlos Rios in his hometown of Grand Rapids Michigan in February of 1999. That was before he turned off a lot of people by firing his father and repossessing a van that he had given his father. It was also before Mayweather’s highly publicized dispute with Top Rank and HBO when he called a multi-million dollar deal a “slave contract.”
In terms of marketing appeal Mayweather isn’t a powerhouse so economically the fight doesn’t make that much sense for Gatti. Arturo will probably clear 4 to 5 million for the fight, but he can get two million for fighting Joe Blow so it’s not about the money. You see the thing that makes Arturo Gatti special is that he doesn’t know that he’s not great. It’s that very belief, however unfounded it may be, that serves as his internal strength during his times of need. It’s what has earned him the accolades that the sport usually only reserves for dominant champions with a lot more ability. Of course Arturo likes the fame, the money, and the glory that his fighting spirit has earned him, but he yearns for more. He yearns for recognition. He yearns for the world to believe what his soul has believed for a long time. He yearns to be great and that is why he wants to fight Floyd Mayweather. If the Michigan native doesn’t make it happen soon, Gatti will probably end up getting knocked off by a Vivian Harris or a Kostya Tszyu.
NOTES:
Max Schmeling past away this week and the boxing world lost a piece of history. Max was the oldest living former heavyweight champion. He was the only Heavyweight Champion to have won the title on a foul. Now Ignemar Johansson is the oldest living former World Heavyweight Champion and then Floyd Patterson. The boxing magazines always conduct interviews with contemporary fighters when they should be doing pieces on these former champions while they are still here.
Steve Kim of MaxBoxing recently wrote that Yanqui Diaz was the worst fighter to have ever fought on HBO. He is very wrong. Jimmy Ellis who fought George Foreman in December of 1991 is the worst fighter to have ever fought on the network. Ellis probably couldn’t have survived one round with Peter McNeeley. In fact Mark Gastineua probably would have kicked his ass while Yanqui has wins against Juan Carlos Gomez and former title challenger Vaughn Bean.
DeMarcus Corley is like a poorman’s Oba Carr. He is a tough gate keeper in a tough division.. Remember when Oba Carr fought hard against Trinidad, Quartey, and De La Hoya. You know the division was good when a fighter as good as Carr wasn’t able to win a title.
Everyone talks about the Wright-Vargas fight as if Winky won it or as if it was a robbery along the lines of Escalera-Everett, Chavez-Randal II, or Holyfield-Lewis I. Yes, it was close, but I thought Vargas won it.
Recently a friend gave me a DVD set of Sugar Ray Leonard’s career. All you guys probably already know this, but at welterweight the Sugar man would have beaten Oscar, Whitaker. Mosley, and Trinidad.