I was reading on another site,and the writer was saying that Gatti is now off to the Hall of Fame.He felt that Gatti is a shoo-in...
My thoughts,Gatti was a heck of a fighter,a warrior who always gave his all and put on some unbelievable shows...but Hall of Fame???...I think not.
A record of 40-9 is great if you are a pitcher for a couple of seasons,but not for a boxer going into the Hall.
Should not the Hall be for the elite of the elite?...and was Gatti an elite fighter?
I say no to both questions...
Gatti should not make the hall of fame, but he should be remembered for his exciting style and all of that.
Cuevas may not be a popular choice among others enshrined in the HOF, but Gatti never even showed the consistency that Cuevas showed when he defended his WBA title 10+ times.
Based on in the ring accomplishments there is no way he makes it considering some of the guys that aren't in historically. On the other hand if we factor in what he did for boxing perhaps he makes it. When boxing was sort of stagnant those Ward-Gatti battles surely attracted people to the sport who would not ordinarily and have probably subsequently stopped watching. If I had a vote he would NOT get in because honestly I think that his fame/$ is his reward for what he did and the HOF should really be about what happened in the ring.
If you put Gatti in,then the Hall is one of popularity,as opposed to excellence.
How about a guy like Alfredo Escalera...guy defended his title 11 times,it took a prime Alexis Arquello to stop him.A lifetime record of 53-14-3 with 31 KOs.
And he is not in the hall,but yet Gatti goes in?...nah!
Just because he had alot of heart and was a exciting fighter, shouldnt put him in the HOF, what did he really give to boxing the gatti ward fights were exicting, but there was no skill involved in those fights.
Of course he'll be in the HOF, hell guys like Jeff Fenech are. Gatti gave a lot to boxing. I can't believe people think he should belong in the HOF.
What's your point in bringing up Fenech?
Fenech was a much more accomplished and better fighter than Gatti.
Hell no.
You cant reward a guy for being exciting. Sure Gatti was a pretty good fighter at 130, but his opponents were still hand picked. Everytime he stepped up he got destroyed. His campagn at 140 was impressive before the Mayweather fight, but it was against handpicked opponents. Branco, Dorin, and Leija were either blown up, past their prime, or not that good in the first place. I admire his heart and his will. He IS NOT a Hall of Fame fighter though.
yes he's a HOF....some of the criteria isn't just based on your record, it's what u did for boxing & how you fought.....he's a 3x champ.....has beaten some good opponents.....most of the fights he lost he was close in them all (argueably should have won 2 of those close decisions), a few fights he lost he fought unfortunately in his wild yrs (ex-manfreddy) & was still in those fights.....he blew away is prime & still did what he did.....
comeback & ko'd ruelas, a good tough fighter.....destroyed the same leija that kostya tszu has some problems w/ (& @ 140 leija said gatti hits much harder)....fought & won fights w/ one hand....so on & so on.....
nobody is saying he has a record like graziano or ray robinson, etc.....but he has DONE ENOUGH & beaten enough to get in the HOF.....especially compared to some of the guys that have been inducted in there.....
-PS....not for nothing but some of the "Elite" P4p's today, whe ya break down there records.....realy havn't fought squat
Doesn't change basic fact.
I don't like Floyd personally but he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame because of how dominant he was as a fighter. If you're going to induct Gatti you might as well put Micky Ward in there as well.
Gatti was a considerably better fighter than Micky Ward.
No.
He was never that good of a fighter, and I don't see how someone can be placed in the boxing hall of fame for getting beat down mercilessly on a consistent basis. Christ Almighty, it took Pernell Whitaker years to be inducted and people are already "Shoeing" Gatti in?
I don't give a fuck about how much heart he showed. Whitaker was the most skilled fighter of all time who worked ridiculously hard to keep himself honed and win all of those titles. He's just like millions of light years better than Gatti and nobody instantly talked about him being put there until they realized they were jackasses for not doing so.
Whitaker got in at the first opportunity. You have to be inactive for 5 years before you're eligible.
Doesn't change basic fact.
I don't like Floyd personally but he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame because of how dominant he was as a fighter. If you're going to induct Gatti you might as well put Micky Ward in there as well.
floyd gets in on accomplishments, no doubt.
but if fucking bobby chacon, jimmy braddock, and pipino cuevas get in, so should gatti.
yeah, thats the criteria for being in the HOF: being a good fighter. if your a good fighter, you get it. makes a ton o sense, dont it?
gatti should be inducted based on his contributions (which is the only thing that matters in boxing). 4 FOTY and two titles in two divisions.
i'll tell you this right here and now: arturo gatti contributed more to the sport of boxing that floyd mayweather could ever hope to. mayweather is light years better than gatti as a fighter, but hes a selfish prick who fights only for money and gives nothing back. gatti is easily 100x better than floyd as a person.
Doesn't change basic fact.
I don't like Floyd personally but he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame because of how dominant he was as a fighter. If you're going to induct Gatti you might as well put Micky Ward in there as well.
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yeah, thats the criteria for being in the HOF: being a good fighter. if your a good fighter, you get it. makes a ton o sense, dont it?
gatti should be inducted based on his contributions (which is the only thing that matters in boxing). 4 FOTY and two titles in two divisions.
i'll tell you this right here and now: arturo gatti contributed more to the sport of boxing that floyd mayweather could ever hope to. mayweather is light years better than gatti as a fighter, but hes a selfish prick who fights only for money and gives nothing back. gatti is easily 100x better than floyd as a person.
You must keep in mind that none of us really know these fighters...of anyone in the public eye.
All we know is the facade that they put up.
Sure,PBF seems like an asshole...and people would like to think that Gatti is this or that based on his style of fighting,but I doubt that whatever we see is the full picture.