Arturo Gatti became a legend after his unforgettable trilogy with Micky Ward, but two years later, when one legend met another, Gatti realized his time in the sport was coming to an end.
Arturo Gatti cannot be spoken of without also mentioning Micky Ward. Gatti and Ward shared 30 hard-fought rounds together, leaving everything in the ring.
Over the years the pair forged more than a typical rivalry, they formed a friendship. Ward revealed that he respected Gatti after their first encounter, when they had a conversation in the hospital, and their relationship only grew from there.
Gatti met an unfortunate end in 2009, and Ward not only spoke at his funeral, but gave a speech at his posthumous induction into the boxing hall of fame.
Only two years after the conclusion of their astonishing trilogy, Gatti met his toughest opponent yet.
Floyd Mayweather dismantled Arturo Gatti in the twilight of his career
In 2005, just two years after the conclusion of Gatti’s trilogy with Ward, 33-0 Floyd Mayweather faced the legend half-responsible for the ‘Round of the Century’ in a bid to win his WBC Super lightweight title.
Gatti, whose son was coached by Mike Tyson, was 39-6 at the time, and would only fight three more times after facing Mayweather, who once hit an opponent 27 times before sending them out of the ropes, winning only one of these.
Mayweather dismantled Gatti until his trainer stopped the fight in the corner after the sixth round. The judges’ scorecards at the time read 60-53, 60-52, 60-52, all in favor of Mayweather.
According to BoxRec, pundit Max Kellerman called the fight the biggest pay-per-view mismatch since Lennox Lewis vs Mike Tyson.
Only one man defeated Gatti quicker than Floyd Mayweather
Gatti finished his career with a record of 40-9, though just over half of these came by way of stoppage.
Even in those fights where he was stopped, Gatti always made it into the second half of the fight, even against Mayweather.
In fact, there was only one man who saw to it that Gatti was stopped in the first half – Oscar De La Hoya, one of the best amateur boxers of all time.
De La Hoya and Gatti met in 2001, just one year before the Ward trilogy and four before the Mayweather fight. The then 32-2 ‘Golden Boy’ stopped Gatti in the fifth round, handing him his fifth pro defeat.