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On Saturday, HBO will air its first installment of the revitalized "Legendary Nights" series by reliving one of the most historic trilogies ever staged, the punishing series between Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward.
The aftereffects of their savage encounters produced ripples that continue to this day. In the short-term, both men's profiles were lifted in ways far beyond the ring. Ward joined Gatti as a blood-and-guts warrior of the highest order and he gained enough mainstream name recognition that a movie based on his life story eventually was filmed. As for Gatti, the Ward fights capped off a career that elevated Gatti to first-ballot Hall of Fame status in 2013, four years after his tragic demise and six years after his final ring battle. In the long term their names forever will be joined by a hyphen, a treasured designation in boxing circles because that precious punctuation is proof positive of a pairing's everlasting greatness.
For all the accolades their wars received -- their first and third fights were deemed Ring Magazine's Fight of the Year in 2002 and 2003 -- Ward's third consecutive such honor and Gatti's third and fourth in a seven-year span -- the most remarkable consequence was a friendship so strong that Ward served as Gatti's trainer for "Thunder's" final bout with Carlos Baldomir.
Combat sports, and especially boxing, create an exclusive bond forged by shared experience. Some are adversarial like Frazier against Ali, Basilio against Robinson and Hagler against Leonard but far more often than not they create a sense of mutual admiration. That, in turn, spawns friendships that sometimes last decades like Gene Fullmer and Carmen Basilio, Basilio and Tony DeMarco and Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns, among others. That sense of friendship and mercy prompted Leonard to let Roberto Duran off the hook in the recently-aired "30 for 30" documentary "No Mas," which saw the two fighters leave the building with arms d****d around the other's shoulder. [Click Here To Read More]
The aftereffects of their savage encounters produced ripples that continue to this day. In the short-term, both men's profiles were lifted in ways far beyond the ring. Ward joined Gatti as a blood-and-guts warrior of the highest order and he gained enough mainstream name recognition that a movie based on his life story eventually was filmed. As for Gatti, the Ward fights capped off a career that elevated Gatti to first-ballot Hall of Fame status in 2013, four years after his tragic demise and six years after his final ring battle. In the long term their names forever will be joined by a hyphen, a treasured designation in boxing circles because that precious punctuation is proof positive of a pairing's everlasting greatness.
For all the accolades their wars received -- their first and third fights were deemed Ring Magazine's Fight of the Year in 2002 and 2003 -- Ward's third consecutive such honor and Gatti's third and fourth in a seven-year span -- the most remarkable consequence was a friendship so strong that Ward served as Gatti's trainer for "Thunder's" final bout with Carlos Baldomir.
Combat sports, and especially boxing, create an exclusive bond forged by shared experience. Some are adversarial like Frazier against Ali, Basilio against Robinson and Hagler against Leonard but far more often than not they create a sense of mutual admiration. That, in turn, spawns friendships that sometimes last decades like Gene Fullmer and Carmen Basilio, Basilio and Tony DeMarco and Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns, among others. That sense of friendship and mercy prompted Leonard to let Roberto Duran off the hook in the recently-aired "30 for 30" documentary "No Mas," which saw the two fighters leave the building with arms d****d around the other's shoulder. [Click Here To Read More]