Why Gatti-Ward was a Shame for Boxing.

[Castillofan]

Maybe Castillo-Corrales is a more apt example to illustrate my point. But then, that was a championship fight and, if not for the weight fiascos, would have been a championship fight on two more occasions.

Anyone with a hint of knowledge knew what kind of affair Castillo-Corrales would be; yet less than 5000 people turn up to see it.

To me, the Gatti-Ward fights didn't mean anything. Could you honestly say after the rematch that there was a need for the third fight? What did Gatti have to do, kill Ward to prove that he was the superior fighter?

I understand the logic behind the fighters should take what's on the table because that's what they signed up for as fighters, but what gets me is that it isn't on the table until the networks are sure they're getting their pound of flesh.

Look how quickly they tore Castillo up when he didn't make weight. He was a hero one minute, then a bastard the moment the fight was off.

The hypocrisy just stinks.

I mean, Gatti and Ward probably made decent money, but the industry itself devalues the contributions of those guys so much over the years that they shouldn't have had to almost kill each other three consecutive times. It felt like - "Hey, let's just have these two go at each other and see what happens; see how far they can push each other. Why? Because we can."

Look at Gatti, the most entertaining fighter maybe of the last ten years - provided value for money whether he was fighting Wilson Rodriguez, Erik Jakubowski or Carlos Baldomir. He fought everyone.

You see fighters that have made a lot less contributions than Gatti to boxing that don't have to do what he had to do because their money was already made.

[DarkSpyder]

I was discussing Roy Jones Jr.'s love for ****fighting with a friend a couple of months ago, and I was talking about how I found that sport barbaric; two animals forced to fight one another to the death. My friend replied that it wasnt much different from boxing.

My retort was that boxers, as palpable as it may sound, choose to fight each other. They choose to take that extra million. Yes, the nature of the sport can be barbaric, a grotesque form of entertainment if that's how you interpret it, but these men choose to enter the ring and take the sort of shots that they took, just as you chose to watch the violent bloodletting on display.

[Castillofan]

I was discussing Roy Jones Jr.'s love for ****fighting with a friend a couple of months ago, and I was talking about how I found that sport barbaric; two animals forced to fight one another to the death. My friend replied that it wasnt much different from boxing.

My retort was that boxers, as palpable as it may sound, choose to fight each other. They choose to take that extra million. Yes, the nature of the sport can be barbaric, a grotesque form of entertainment if that's how you interpret it, but these men choose to enter the ring and take the sort of shots that they took, just as you chose to watch the violent bloodletting on display.

Absolutely. I wouldn't complain about them choosing to do it, or people wanting to watch it. What was disgusting to me was the way the major money was only made available to these guys once the networks were sure they had two guys that were obviously going to **** each other up.

[DarkSpyder]

I see your point. It's just a shame money dictates so much of the sport isn't it. The last fight was unnecessary, but it was 1 and 1, so I guess you could say it was a little similar to the Morales-Pacquiao situation last weekend. Although there was a bit more on the line in that trilogy, obviously.

The point I'm about to make is moot, but I think Ward could have been very badly injured had Gatti not broken his hand. I suppose we can be thankful that the breakage occurred, because yes, it made the fight more competitive and entertaining for the viewer, but also maybe inadvertently saved Ward from some frightful injuries.

I'm liking the thread by the way. Food for thought to say the least.

[Kball15]

(on boxing) "NO WHERE ELSE IN SPORT, IS THERE SO MUCH GLORY AND PASSION INVOLVED IN WINNING."


These guys know what the risks are but they want the glory. The pain they suffer afterwards all comes with the incredible glory and fan approval they gain from winning.


Gatti was always a fan favorite, he would have made money either way.


He didnt take those fights for the money, He took those fights for the glory.

[fluent2332]

go watch figure skating

[montanadave]

(on boxing) "NO WHERE ELSE IN SPORT, IS THERE SO MUCH GLORY AND PASSION INVOLVED IN WINNING."


These guys know what the risks are but they want the glory. The pain they suffer afterwards all comes with the incredible glory and fan approval they gain from winning.


Gatti was always a fan favorite, he would have made money either way.


He didnt take those fights for the money, He took those fights for the glory.

Best post I've read all day------Thx!

[PapiShasho]

I'd have to say you're not a real boxing fan if you dont realize it's a contact sport, and the rougher it is, the more the crowd likes it, coming from way back in the roman days where gladiators use to fight to the death in the Coliseum.

You could be watching your favorite sport live from the front row, be it football, basketball, baseball, whatever, but if you see two guys going at it in the stands, your attention goes that way.

[TheEvilSaint]

I was just looking back at footage of the Gatti-Ward fights and was struck by something. No, not my wife trying to get time to check her e-mail. Those fights were amazing; though if you really think about it, completely uncalled for.

Think about the fifth round of what I believe is the first fight. You know, that round; the one that has Manny Steward actually sounding like he's alive when he's commentating. Think of the last half a minute of the round, when Gatti lands some huge body punches to both sides of Ward. Those shots could be felt by anyone that saw them.

Then think about the combinations upstairs that Gatti goes to work with on Ward. Then remember that combination from Ward; the one where Gatti's head is hung out to dry and Ward just tees off on it with around six shots unanswered. Then they go at it with mainly Ward landing huge head shots.

That stands out to me; but those fights were full of moments like that. Three full fight's worth of nothing but sheer, brutal punishment round after bloody round. Those two must have been hospitalized after each one of those fights. Certainly, Ward had to retire afterwards; perhaps Gatti should have.

We talk about courage, but does anyone really think that those two fighters really wanted to go out there and do that to themselves? Does anyone doubt that we would never have seen those fights if boxing had any financial alternatives for either of them?

Those fighters should never have been in a position to have to fight those fights. And that's the issue; they had to fight those fights because they'd never seen the kind of money that HBO was offering. There had never been the kind of interest in either of them that would justify that kind of money. They found a niche that could have killed one or both of them.

It happens all the time: Fans and networks don't switch on until their enjoyment is assured. Nobody wanted to pay for Castillo-Corrales until they almost killed one another. Sure enough, the rematch was on pay-per-view. Even sooner, the third was; only Castillo, a hero in showtime's estimation, a true warrior, became a villain as soon as he couldn't make weight and stopped that fight from happening.

It's hypocrisy. Where are these so-called boxing fans? Where are they when it comes to feeding this sport and preventing fighters like Gatti and Ward, at the end of their careers, having to go through three of the most brutal fights in not only their but anyone's history because that was the only alternative?

This may sound strange coming from a boxing fan, but I find that barbaric. I find the attitudes that these supposed fans and the networks have towards fighters. These fighters are not superheroes with special powers they can conjure up for the amusement of the masses. This is real. Remember that when the broadcast ends and the channel gets changes, these guys are in the hospital.

no1 is forcing them to fight each other. no1 is forcing them to fight the way they do. they do it because its what they know. they know what they're doing and they're doing what they know. going into a boxing ring, they know what's at risk: their lives, their health, their families, their money, etc.

they dont fight like that to please us. they fight like that because thats how they want to fight.

this is boxing. its not a sport for the weak. nobody's forcing the fighters to fight and nobody's forcing you to watch. you roll with the punches, you take the good with the bad. this is not a perfect world and boxing is the opposite of a perfect sport. so dont expect perfection from a flawed sport and dont expect justice in a cruel world.

[Kball15]

Saying the GATTI-WARD trilogy is bad for BOXING is like saying the SUPERBOWL is bad for FOOTBALL...