Does Arturo Gatti belong in the International Boxing Hall of Fame?‏

[New England]

i think in 50 years both he and ward will be in the hall


if you find other fighters with as many foty's they are all in the HOF

i wouldn't vote for them now

but in 50 years who can say what we'll think about them


if the 50 years passes and nobody comes around to outshine them maybe they deserve to be in



great fights have got to be high on the list greatmaking criteria for fighters
it obviously cant stand alone. you need to accomplish more than he did. you need to win your big fights.
but the dude was in some of the best fights ever and will always deserve credit for it

you cant fight like that forever
and once you're done it stays with you for the rest of your life.
i've met micky ward more than once and he clearly has trouble seeing.


if theres an action fighters HOF he's first ballot
no joke
first ballot. maybe even the inaugural member ^^

[RubenSonny]

That wasn't really my point. But I would like to see a list of more deserving fighters from the last 20 years.

Obviously he'd be high upon the list if you limit it down to 20 years.

[Scott9945]

It would be.

But, the likes of Pone Kingpetch, Cocoa Kid, Tiger Jones, Eddie Booker etc etc etc need to be in long before both Gatti and Hamed.

Unfortunately, I doubt they will.

I'm pretty sure that those guys would have to be put in on the oldtimers list, which is somewhat of a different context.

[RubenSonny]

I'm pretty sure that those guys would have to be put in on the oldtimers list, which is somewhat of a different context.

No they would all be in the modern era.

[Forza]

Nope because of how easy A level fighters whooped him ( ODLH, FMJ )

[New England]

Nope because of how easy A level fighters whooped him ( ODLH, FMJ )

unfortunately this is about as right as you can get


those were his fights against the elite (two first ballot HOFERS) and he was destroyed

[Scott9945]

No they would all be in the modern era.

Maybe I'm confusing it with MLB. Do you know the boundaries for which the 'modern era" fits?

[Scott9945]

unfortunately this is about as right as you can get


those were his fights against the elite (two first ballot HOFERS) and he was destroyed

Ultimately it comes down to whether you believe the HOF is for great fighters, or should also include boxers who were in great fights.

[RubenSonny]

Maybe I'm confusing it with MLB. Do you know the boundaries for which the 'modern era" fits?

Last bout must be before 1943, there are quite a few fighters who retired a little after the cut off that are more deserving than the least deserving in the HOF IMO.

[VERILY]

This isn't like Cooperstown or Canton.

And nor should it be, I feel.


Boxing is more a microcosm of life than any sport is, draws more on the range of human emotion than any sport does. This is why I came to care more about boxing than any other sport, almost totally discarding those others I used to follow as time went on.

That's not necessarily to say any Joe, Fitz or Clubber who once whipped a crowd into a frenzy should get in a boxing HOF. But Gatti was an undeniably extraordinary fighter, in ways that transcend the usual standards of criticism and judgement for sporting achievement.

I don't want to think of boxing in purely dispassionate clinical terms, and I don't want to see its Glories determined that way; saying that, Hellyeah, Gatti should make the hall.

But the above thoughts also pretty much speak to why I'm scornful of the idea of a Hall of Fame in any sporting or artistic field, anyway. History itself is the Hall, Fame is the by turns reverently hushed, excitedly yammered and profoundly sentimental reminiscenses through which Legends traverse the generations. Anyone with a spark of interest can find out who and what the "Great" or Great fighters and fights were without too much trouble - it's not like they need to all be grouped together under some glass case.


Was Gatti "Great"? No. Was Gatti Great? Unequivocally.