Gatti vs Floyd: Why Cant They

[DLT]

just move the date back. They were already talking about giving Hopkins June 11. If Gatti really wants to fight Floyd why cant they just fight in late July. Im sure HBO has a open date. This will give them the extra month that they were crying about. Fights get moved back all the time. I think Gatti is just scared and is making excuses. He has to fight Floyd because that is his mandatory. Floyd has been a WBC champ for a long time an dhas been very good to them and they usally are to him so I think they will tell Gatti to fight him or get stripped because they have already let him put it off a couple of times. Move the fight back and get it on. If 2 guys really want to fight, the fight will happened. You can just tell that Gatti doesnt really want to. He's now saying that Floyd had his chance but he blew it. How does that sound? Thats what littile kids say. He didnt want to fight him

[xrhythmxnxbluesx]

they didnt call gatti ... the ultimate blood and guts warrior... for nothing... he aint scurred... he's juss tired of pretty boy's antics...

[DLT]

they didnt call gatti ... the ultimate blood and guts warrior... for nothing... he aint scurred... he's juss tired of pretty boy's antics...

Come on man, he's been running from Floyd for the longest and then after every fight he tells Merchant that we want to fight Floyd but my management was talking about fighting this other guy but dont worry Floyd, Im not scarred to fight you. He is scared because he knows he can keep making money fighting bums

[borikua]

This is a bunch of BS, how much time they need to promote this fight..3 months is more than enough...

[urdaddyinAZ]

He's the draw whether he wins or loses! Frankly, I'm not all that excited to see the fight anyway. Floyd would dance around and then hold when Gatti got inside and the fight would be a total bore unless Gatti landed a bomb. Which could very well happen. We have grown to love Gatti because he puts on a great show, why are we so insistant on seeing him fight PBF. A fight between Gatti and Harris or Cotto would be more entertaining I think.

Don't get me wrong I would be on the edge of my seat to see this fight, but not because of PBF. More because I would be so anxious to see if Gatti could lay that piece of **** down.

[DLT]

He's the draw whether he wins or loses! Frankly, I'm not all that excited to see the fight anyway. Floyd would dance around and then hold when Gatti got inside and the fight would be a total bore unless Gatti landed a bomb. Which could very well happen. We have grown to love Gatti because he puts on a great show, why are we so insistant on seeing him fight PBF. A fight between Gatti and Harris or Cotto would be more entertaining I think.

Don't get me wrong I would be on the edge of my seat to see this fight, but not because of PBF. More because I would be so anxious to see if Gatti could lay that piece of **** down.

Are you crazy? Have you seen Floyd's last 3 fights? He's not going to dance. He's going to box half the time but he will sit down and go toe to toe with him alot because he thinks he can KO Gatti. Your talking about the old Floyd. He is much more offensive now and is exciting

[KJ]

Are you crazy? Have you seen Floyd's last 3 fights? He's not going to dance. He's going to box half the time but he will sit down and go toe to toe with him alot because he thinks he can KO Gatti. Your talking about the old Floyd. He is much more offensive now and is exciting

Maybe Floyd will now be so exciting that people start talking about (one of) his fights as a "must see" fight. Maybe the ring magazine will even call a Floyd fight a "fight of the year" in the future.

Now for tickets sale Floyd needs Gatti more, than Gatti needs Floyd.

"The new Floyd is fighting on this-and-this-day, he used to be a bore but now he is much more offensive now and is exciting!"

[DLT]

Maybe Floyd will now be so exciting that people start talking about (one of) his fights as a "must see" fight. Maybe the ring magazine will even call a Floyd fight a "fight of the year" in the future.

Now for tickets sale Floyd needs Gatti more, than Gatti needs Floyd.

"The new Floyd is fighting on this-and-this-day, he used to be a bore but now he is much more offensive now and is exciting!"

All this Gatti sells stuff is false. Yeah he sells out but where. In his hometown of AC? When was the last time he fought somewhere else? If he fought anywhere else he wouldnt bring a crowd. Alot of people could pack the house in there hometown. Look what Spinks did in St. Louis.

Everyone knows that Floyd needs Gatti more and so does Gatti. Thats why he's a scared coward because he knows that he doesnt have to fight Floyd but if you want to be the best then you should fight the best or your just going to be known as a club fighter like he is

[KJ]

All this Gatti sells stuff is false. Yeah he sells out but where. In his hometown of AC? When was the last time he fought somewhere else? If he fought anywhere else he wouldnt bring a crowd. Alot of people could pack the house in there hometown. Look what Spinks did in St. Louis.

Everyone knows that Floyd needs Gatti more and so does Gatti. Thats why he's a scared coward because he knows that he doesnt have to fight Floyd but if you want to be the best then you should fight the best or your just going to be known as a club fighter like he is

I am talking about PPV.

Gatti scared?! Sure!

To fight the best is to fight..... Kostya.

[KJ]

The Tales of Arturo and Floyd: Separating Fact From Fiction

07.03.05 - By Mike Samuels:

"WBC Champion Arturo Gatti broke news of his plans to move forward with a different opponent on June 11th on HBO other than WBC #1 ranked challenger, “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather Jr. The cancellation from Main Events and Gatti puts the flame out of the expected Pay Per-View fight between Gatti and Mayweather this summer and has given the boxing community plenty to question and complain about..

For starters, who is to blame for the purposed super-fight not coming off? Floyd Mayweather has said for months that he already signed the contract and was simply waiting for Gatti to do his end. However, Bob Arum has gone on the record denying that the contract was ever signed by Mayweather and that Mayweather has since refused to sign the contract on more than one occasion.

The facts to this present dilemma between Mayweather and Gatti aren’t exactly clear. Both sides are conveying different stories and for the most part the boxing public is picking Gatti’s version over that of Mayweathers. Bob Arum seemingly backing up Arturo Gatti should be no surprise to anyone who has followed his relationship to Floyd Mayweather. Although brash, arrogant and legally binded over the years, Mayweather has made a very good case to the mis-promotion of his talents while with Arum since turning pro almost ten years ago.

Taking a lot of the on going debates into consideration, one has to wonder why Gatti and Main Events - or even Arum at that - are pressing for time to promote the fight. June 11th is more than 3 months away and while most people could care less about Floyd Mayweather, they know more than enough about Arturo Gatti and when he fights. People want to see this fight. People have wanted to see this fight for a long time now and realistically speaking - a term that should be used loosely in the sport - Gatti-Mayweather shouldn’t need more than a month to promote itself and sell. Everyone in the sport knows this, and if one tries to sit and come up with the suggestion that three months is needed to get people to buy Gatti-Mayweather on PPV they are simply buying time to lie to someone. Which, honestly, wouldn’t be surprising. This is boxing remember.

With everything Bob Arum knows about promoting fights, the public has good reason to believe that Main Events doesn’t want Arturo Gatti stepping into the ring with Floyd Mayweather. Main Events knows that Gatti is one of the biggest cash cows in the sport and a loss to Mayweather would damage their profits by a wide margin. Maybe not that wide, but in boxing pennies have always mattered. Gatti can fight off of PPV against a less viable opponent for less money and still come out strong and with a pretty decent amount of money in his back pocket. That scenario seems to be the one Main Events has chosen and the reasoning behind it makes all the sense in the world.

On the flip side, it is a terrible move for Floyd Mayweather not to face Arturo Gatti. Even if you place all the blame on Gatti and Main Events, Mayweather needs to swallow his ego and take less money to make sure he is in the ring with Gatti on June 11th. A win over Gatti would give Mayweather his third title in as many divisions and allow his proceeding fights to make him quite a bit of money also.

The scenario is somewhat similar to that of Vivian Harris refusing to fight Ricky Hatton because he wasn’t given the money he felt he deserved. Harris is still looking for an opponent when he could be training to fight Hatton instead. Plus, a win for Harris over Hatton would give him more options than an offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers of the 80's. But he chose his ego instead of a fight. Floyd Mayweather is now possibly making the same mistake with Arturo Gatti.

Another aspect to look at is the mandatory position Mayweather is in. Gatti has taken two fights (Dorin, Leija) that were completely unnecessary. By doing so he has continuously avoided his mandatory, Floyd Mayweather. Now that he will not be facing Mayweather in June it is time for the WBC to take action. If the case is true for Gatti then the WBC should strip Mayweather of his number 1 position for refusing to fight the champion.

This hardly makes as much sense as people tend to believe, though. When talking about Mayweather - putting aside his attitude and problems outside the ring - you are talking about a guy that fought Genaro Hernandez for the legit jr. lightweight title with not even 20 fights under his professional career. You are also talking about a guy that moved up to the lightweight ranks and took on Jose Luis Castillo twice without a single tune up fight. Not to mention that Frank Warren and Ricky Hatton turned down a fight with Mayweather earlier last year. Knowing all of this, it should lead the boxing public to a lot of su****ions concerning the cancellation on Gatti’s part.

If Mayweather’s case is proven, however, then Gatti should fight on June 11th without the luxury of the WBC jr. welterweight title around his waist. No questions about it. Gatti is hardly the type of fighter to turn down a fight, but it shouldn’t be ruled out that Main Events knows what they have, and they may not want to take a chance to mess it up.

You could consider this going out on a limb, but one aspect to this whole dilemma between Gatti-Mayweather could simply be that Gatti and Main Events - and even Mayweather - are bluffing to stir up emotions in hopes to boost pay per-view sales in the summer. Knowing that Gatti is the champion and that he must defend against his mandatory before being stripped, this idea would not only be smart but it may just work. I wouldn’t put it past Bob Arum or anyone involved in the making of the fight at that."