Gatti Being Sued By Gamache

NEW YORK -- A former boxer who says he sustained permanent brain damage in a 2000 bout against Arturo Gatti is now suing, saying Gatti weighed too much for the fight. Joey Gamache, 39, and his wife filed a lawsuit in federal court Feb. 21 alleging breach of contract over the Feb. 26, 2000 bout at Madison Square Garden. Gatti won the fight. By contract, both fighters had to weigh 141 pounds by at least eight hours before the bout started, according to the suit filed by lawyer Keith Sullivan. Gatti made weight the day before the fight, but the suit said his weight was "falsely represented" then and that he was actually 160 pounds by the time he got into the ring the next day. Gatti overwhelmed Gamache in the first round and the fight was stopped 20 seconds into Round Two, but Gamache was hospitalized for two days afterward, the suit said. "As a result of the devastating punishment inflicted by the severely overweight defendant ... has sustained severe and permanent neurological damages and injuries, which caused him to end his career as a professional boxer," according to the suit. Gamache, who suffers from migraine headaches he attributes to the beating, now works as a boxing trainer at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn. Donald Tremblay, spokesman for Bloomfield, N.J.-based Main Events, Gatti's promoter, said the company had not been served with the complaint and wouldn't comment on its claims. A breach-of-contract suit filed by Gamache over the fight was voluntarily withdrawn by him in August 2004, with the endorsement of U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain, according to Tremblay. Tremblay said he didn't know what Gatti's weight was by the time the fight began. "I don't know how much weight he gained afterward. That was when Arturo was really working hard to make weight. How much he actually gained, I don't know. He worked hard to get down and make the weight. After that, when you replenish with liquids you're going to gain some weight back. Some guys gain more than others." What a bunch of bullshit this is.

Comments (20)

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20y ago

Red_Menace

basically :) but do you believe me, or Gatti and his crew of Jersey gangsters? I believe he could have been overweight, but I also know how rumours and hearsay get exaggerated in the sports world. I remember the first time I heard about this, they were sayin' Gatti was probably 155 lbs in the ring, after he'd rehydrated. Now we've got people saying 165lbs, like it's a fact.

20y ago

Stiv_Rex

gamache is a fuckin pussy. i cant blame him for the lawsuit against the NYAC, with that he was just trying to get some money. because the guy is a washed up 2nd rate boxer, whats he gonna do for the rest of his life? go ahead and get paid off the commission. but for him to sue gatti too is fucked up. he needs to take his loss like a man.

20y ago

SacTown1

See, but isn't this all hearsay? basically :) but do you believe me, or Gatti and his crew of Jersey gangsters?

20y ago

Red_Menace

Gatti jumped on & off the scale, while the scale's dial was at 141, he never stood on the scale with 2 feet, no media was allowed to photograph the weigh-in, Gatti wasn't even close to the weight of 141, fought the fight around 160-168 depending on who you ask, and now Gamache is ruined for life....the New York commission allowed this, due to the amount of $$$ Gatti's fights had been bringing in to the state (even though this was on a DeLaHoya undercard, but nonetheless....) another conspiracy gone horribly wrong for a poor old fighter See, but isn't this all hearsay?

20y ago

Kayo

the broadcast stated "nearly" twenty pounds more than at the weigh in. To me, it doesn't matter what you weigh at the fight as long as you weigh in right. Its hard to say what happened at the weigh in as its all hearsay and there isn't conclusive evidence of any wrongdoing. Gamache did have a bad chin though. No way he should have gone down the first time as it was a wide arm punch. I'll post the whole fight in about an hour yeah that first knockdown wasnt really a good punch but he was totaly fucked after that and barely got up

20y ago

20y ago

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20y ago

Was Gatti's weight 160lbs official before the fight, or is that a guess? I'm just curious, because I've seen a lot of numbers thrown around in that regard. If the commission couldn't do a weigh-in properly, I'd say the blame lies on their shoulders. That's what the weigh-in is for. If they can't identify fighters that weren't able to make weight, then it's kind of a pointless routine. Fighters do their best to make weight, because they know they're going to be weighed. I don't think anyone intentionally misses their target, despite what people have been saying about Castillo. If they don't make it, the commission should catch them. If the commission doesn't catch them, then that's the commissions problem.

20y ago

1bad65

I read that Gamache's trainer raised objections at the weigh-in. He swears that Gatti was over 141 at the weigh in. I hate lawsuits like the next guy, but if Gamache can PROVE Gatti did not make weight he can win. Since Gatti would have violated the contract by not making weight. On a side note, I saw a guy strip naked to make weight for an mma fight.

20y ago

mECHsLAVE

I'll be quite honest with you..... That was ridiculous, Gatti had no business weighing twenty five pounds more than Gamache. Gatti did break the rules from what I can tell- that's been the word since that fight happened, but I don't think Gamache has a case. His own corner should have stopped that fight after the first round. Gamache was hurt with literally every punch he got hit with in Round 1. It was so obvious that he was done in R1. Gatti's job is to KO his opponent, and to weigh as much as he can possibly get away with weighing. It's the job of the commission, the ref, the doc, Gamache's corner, and Gamache himself to protect Gamache. It's not Gatti's responsibility.

20y ago

mECHsLAVE

...The first step to recovery is acceptance. LOL You've been obsessing over my sig way too much, I can tell.

20y ago

jabsRstiff

I would almost support Gamache on this (because the weight difference was atrocious).....if I didn't know he had been already horribly KO'd years before, by Orzubek Nazarov. Nazarov fought Gamache at their natural weight of 135. No weight issue. Nazarov knocked Gamache down four times in two rounds....& Gamache was knocked completely unconscious (just as badly as Gatti did to him) on the final KD. Gamache was also kncked silly by Tony Lopez, before Nazarov did the trick. Gamache took a terrible beating from JC Chavez, in '96. I seriously doubt that the Gatti fight alone damaged him. Those other brutal KO's, as well as a long career of boxing, are actually more the cause.

20y ago

BOXERJOSH

Im not buying the weight issue from Gamache.....the fact of the matter is that Gamache got clocked with a devastating combo of punches due to a lack of defense- no dirty fighting, no illegal blows- just lack of skill on his part and LOTS of power on Gatti's part. Think about it...Nikolay Valuev outweighs his opponents by 75-100 lbs every fight, if weight was THE issue, then Valuev would never find an opponent to fight at a whopping 324 pounds! (Example: Valuev 324lbs vs John Ruiz 237lbs) So I dont buy weight...Im sayin its skill. I must admit tho, it was the most brutal knockout that Ive seen...Gamaches brain mustve rattled for a long time after taking those power punches. :boxing:

20y ago

TheEvilSaint

gamache is feeding the american stereotype: a pussy who files lawsuits at every opportunity, no matter how fraudulent the accusations are. P.S. joey gamache, that KO was my fav KO of all time. i'm glad it happend to a prick like you.

20y ago

TheEvilSaint

gamache is feeding the american stereotype: a pussy who files lawsuits at every opportunity, no matter how fraudulent the accusations are.

20y ago

deuce_drop

I watched the fight and I remember Joey getting the holy shit beat out of him. If all these false weigh in reports are true. Joey should be going after the states athletic commission. With that being said I dont think the lawsuits legit as it stands right now. he already sued the new york athletic commission....and won a mutil-million dollar lawsuit. also because of this fight Gatti uses his own digital scale and never does an unofficial weigh in for HBO or anyone for that matter.

20y ago

ELPacman

While, I think the first lawsuit he filed over Gatti was enough and already over and done with, you can't ignore what happened. That was brutal and really unfair. I get a chill watching that fight just from the size difference. Someone mentioned Gatti may as well be called a heavyweight coming into that fight, well to be honest, it looked like a lightweight vs a welterweight or something. Gamache looked so damn small and every punch Gatti through had so much weight on it and power, that it got through whatever defense Gamache attempted. That's not boxing ladies and gentlemen, that's cheating. When someone can break through your defense with ease because he weights a cow more than you, it's just not right.

20y ago

DrDepravity

20y ago