Baldomir Wins over Gatti- prediction
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Next up is a tough Arturo Gatti in Atlantic City on Saturday night.
Like almost everyone else, he underestimated Baldomir, dismissed him as a crude, over-the-hill soft touch, a steppingstone to bigger and better things.
Mistake.
Big, bad mistake.
Baldomir, guided by an 84-year-old trainer named Amilcar Brusa -- who had guided the career of Argentina's revered middleweight Carlos Monzon throughout his Hall of Fame ring tenure -- gave the performance of a lifetime.
He pressured Judah from the opening bell.
He was in the Brooklyn fighter's face for three minutes of each round, and his punches weren't soft.
Twelve KOs, Judah had to be thinking as Baldomir's blasts rattled off his forehead. No way. Musta been a misprint.
Yes, Judah felt Baldomir's offerings, and the judges saw it too; Baldomir, a no-name vet too old to be called a prospect and semi-obscure even in his own nation of origin, won a unanimous 12-round decision and exploded onto the welterweight scene.
Is exploded the right word? After all, it did take the man who debuted in 1993 with a win over Carlos More 13 years to reach this apex.
Not exactly a sprint to supremacy.
But if you were there, and heard Zab's Brooklyn homeys cheering in zesty appreciation of Baldomir's grit and underdog spark, then you would agree, yes, "exploded" is the correct word choice.
Now, six months later, Baldomir (42-9-6) has a chance to open the eyes of more fight fans who speculate that his win came about more because of Judah's overconfidence than his skills. On July 22 in Atlantic City, Baldomir will be fighting the Human Highlight Film, this generation's archetypical lunch-pail warrior, Arturo Gatti (40-7, 31 KOs).
Baldomir is, to be frank, almost ancient for a lighter-weight fighter. The calendar turned on April 30 for the 5-foot-7 right-hander, who resides in Sante Fe, Argentina, with his wife and two children.
He is 35 years old, an overage overnight sensation. Baldomir realizes that this fight with Gatti, who is revered like Sinatra was in Atlantic City, is monumental for him.
His confidence a week before the A.C. faceoff is unflagging.
"Gatti's time is over," he tells ESPN.com through interpreter Javier Zapata Jr. (the son of manager Javier Zapata). "He's not as good as he was before. It won't be a problem for me to take his IBA title."
Will it be a simpler tussle than it was with Judah?
"Gatti will be easier than Judah," Baldomir says, "because he doesn't move as much and he's not a southpaw."
A win for Baldomir means a mega-money date with an even bigger fish than Gatti, who is 34 years old and is nearly a decade past the prime of his boxing existence. A win also means another bump in prestige in Argentina, where Baldomir was virtually off the radar among fight fans, who regarded him as someone who had never really put it together, someone not of championship-level caliber.
Regarding money -- and that must be at the forefront when we talk pro boxing, because who other than a sociopath or a fool would engage in potentially deadly combat for free -- this scrap with Gatti is a sweet payday.
"Baldy," as those in his camp refer to Baldomir, will come away with $1.45 million, minus the tax collector's cut and payouts to management and corner help. It's a heady step up from his previous best purse: $100,000 for meeting Judah and challenging the now-tarnished pugilist for his WBC welterweight title.
But Baldomir is sure to communicate his priorities in the sport.
"I fight for the passion," he says, "and the money is to take care of my family. I've been fighting for a long time and haven't earned much opportunity to benefit."
That family -- wife Graziela, daughter Florencia (age 16) and son Carlos Jr. (13) -- live in Argentina but will make the trek to Atlantic City for the showdown of the senior welterweight standouts. Baldomir's family will watch a man motivated by a desire to continue to prove to his community they were wrong when they dismissed him.
"At the moment, boxing is big in Argentina," he says. "But before , no one believed in me. I didn't get the opportunity for big fights, but the people didn't believe I had what it takes to be champion."
To be sure, Baldomir has been in the long shadow of Monzon (87-3-9, 59 KOs), who held the middleweight crown for seven years and sits in some experts' all-time top 10 pound-for-pound lists. So it is understandable that the spotlight has just now found Baldomir.
Monzon, who also was born in Sante Fe, was a flamboyant playboy who exuded a rough charm that fascinated Argentina. He fought hard and played harder, boasting of his copious sexual conquests. That roguish appeal abated, though, and Monzon was sentenced to 11 years in prison for the 1988 slaying of his estranged girlfriend. He died in a 1995 car accident while on furlough.
Baldomir doesn't play up the hometown connection or traffic in the comparison game.
"I don't care to compare myself with Monzon," he says.
No tales of excess or hyper-machismo are attached to Baldomir. He's been married for 17 years, and his most obvious attribute as a pro has been his perseverance.
He fought briefly for Bob Arum's promotional outfit, Top Rank, but languished on the bench, so to speak. Baldomir sat idle and became discouraged. But, he says, he didn't contemplate quitting.
In 2005, he signed on with a smaller promoter, California-based Sycuan Ringside Promotions. There was no press conference to hype the acquisition.
Right away, however, opportunities began to pop, even if champagne corks didn't when he signed on with Sycuan. Baldomir defeated Miguel Angel Rodriguez in May 2005 in a title-shot eliminator that put him in the ring with Judah. And when he outworked the New Yorker on his home turf at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, his nation and unimpressed fight pundits came around.
"I had a big reception when I went back after the win," Baldomir says. "And American boxing journalists also have changed their perception of me."
But has Gatti?
Rumors of a Gatti-Miguel Cotto fight later this year have been spreading around cyberspace. Is Gatti looking past Baldomir, as Judah did, to more heralded and more lucrative competition?
The Argentine, who has warmed to his time in the spotlight and who is on the cusp of making the kind of payday that means guaranteed security for his family, answers with the certainty that comes from proving your worth to a legion of longtime doubters.
"Gatti better not be talking about his next fight that much," Baldomir says, "or he'll find himself in the same position as Judah."
Will he show more of the pop that he insists resides in his fists and raise his KO cache to 13 in Atlantic City?
"I think it will be a very good fight," Baldomir says. "After six or seven rounds, I will be able to control Gatti, who has already suffered a lot of punches in his career."
Baldomir knows about suffering punches.
He has taken scores of hits since he gloved up for pay. Those hurt. But he has a chin of Teflon that absorbs and deflects impact in a manner which can depress even a Grade A slugger.
Perhaps even more telling were the blows to his ego and reputation, as fight experts and fans here and (most hurtfully) in his beloved Argentina refused to see him as he saw himself.
"I always considered myself like the big champions," Baldomir says. "I never gave up hope."
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