WARD-GATTI: FIGHT OF THE YEAR!
TSZYU FLAWLESS VS. TACKIE, OBA CARR HUMILIATED BY UNKNOWN

Ward-Gatti: FIGHT OF THE YEARAt 8:00 p.m. in Las Vegas on the night of May 18, the big story in boxing was Kostya Tszyu. The undisputed 140 lb. champion had just completed one of his best-ever performances, shutting out dangerous Ben Tackie over 12 flawless rounds. But only an hour later it was more like "Kostya Who?" as the headlines shifted from Sin City's sweet science to the bloody war waged between Arturo Gatti and Irish Micky Ward in the backwoods of Connecticut. Gatti vs. Ward was not only Fight of the Year, it was best fight of the last several years... which technically makes it Fight of the Century. And if that sounds like a bit too much praise, then consider this: Gatti and Ward have already logged four Fight of the Years between them (Gatti-Rodriguez, Gatti-Ruelas, Gatti-Robinson I, Ward-Burton) and this bout was better than any of them.

Expectations were high for this showdown, primarily because neither Gatti nor Ward were disciples of Willie Pep, boxing's patron saint of defense. Both men prefer to block punches with their faces before firing back, and boxing fans have come to recognize that this can make for an entertaining contest. In fact, the first punch of the fight, a short left hook from Ward, landed square in the middle of Gatti's flat face. But instead of unloading his own bombs instantly, Gatti backed away from Ward and was soon gliding across the ring on his toes. As Ward gave chase, Gatti showed off his improved footwork by circling the ring and staying out of range.

Thunder Gatti didn't intend to run all night, and after a few floats around the real estate, he stopped and fired a combination. As expected, the blows made solid contact before Gatti bounced away a few steps. A second later, as Ward had just begun his forward momentum again, Gatti popped into Ward's personal space and again fired off a free-swinging combination, punctuated by a trademark left hook that landed flush. That final punch opened up a small but deep cut over Ward's right eye, making losers out of those boxing fans who wagered Gatti would be the first to bleed (i.e. Everyone). Ward immediately pawed at the eye and Gatti again swung a crisp combo at his opponent. The intense action was drawing huge cheers from a crowd that had loudly booed Gatti during the introductions.

As the round wore on, Ward continued to apply his customary full court press while Gatti danced away with ease and used a few more flurries to widen Ward's now-flowing eye gash. A clear 10-9 for Gatti, but things were just getting started.

Gatti was back on his toes to open round two, and the movement was creating all kinds of problems for Micky. Gatti was looking like the 130 lb. version that had outboxed Tracy Harris Patterson for a world title so many years ago. To compliment his footwork, he was coming into Ward with a quick jab and no one-and-done kayo attempts. Behind the jabs, Gatti was letting his hands go. He threw his right with a relaxed fluidity, and swung his entire body into the follow-up hooks. He dug a loud hook to each of Ward's sides, and was doing an above-average job at, gasp, not getting hit. Ward did find a home for his own left hook, as well as an overhand right, but Gatti's movement stymied much further scoring. Frustrated and bleeding, Ward repeatedly punched his own mitts together to try and get himself going.

For Ward to stop Gatti from using every inch of the 22-foot ring, he would need to attack the body. In round three, Ward demonstrated why he's one of the most fearsome rib-hunters in the sport. After Gatti logged another minute of moving and punching with great effect, Ward finally looped in a hook to Gatti's liver. Gatti grimaced at the punch, pinned his right elbow to his side, turned that side of his body away from Ward, and backed up. Ward never slows his aggression, and as Gatti tried to back up for a breath, Ward was on him. Ward fired again to the body, and again made Gatti lower his elbow for protection. Ward followed up with a right to the face, and a hook upstairs. The pro-Ward crowd now erupted with cheers as their man finally began administering punishment. Gatti took a number of shots in the face, but fired back a few of his own. As both men stood their ground near center ring, the crowd rose to its feet. Although brief, the toe-to-toe exchanges were dazzling. With a minute to go in the round, the action cooled long enough for a few butts to return seats. Although Ward had taken the lead in the round, Gatti stormed back before the bell. Catching his breath, he now fired to Ward's body and Micky backed up a few steps. Gatti followed the body shots with an uppercut that drew blood from Ward's nose. Gatti pumped out a jab and unloaded two more four-punch flurries before the round's end, ensuring that he would get the 10-9 in a very close stanza.

The winnerNext to the words "Round Four" in our notebook is the word "WAR." It was the only notation my hand could muster as the fighters went into the trenches in this thrilling round. Gatti was still moving and flurrying in the fourth when Ward timed him with a beautiful straight right hand. The punch cracked into the side of Gatti's head and buckled his knees. This time there was no fancy footwork from Gatti. He crouched over as Ward unloaded heavy shots upstairs and down. After a series of crushing blows, Gatti planted his feet and swung back. The pitch battle was on. Gatti landed a big hook immediately, and another after missing with a wild right. Ward hammered Gatti to the sides, and ripped back with his own hooks to the head. The battle slowed a bit in the final minute, and at the slower pace Gatti was able to regain a bit of control. Remembering to start with the jab, Gatti again uncorked three and four punch combos to the head. One flurry sent Ward back into a neutral corner, where he ate a few more head-turning blows. As the round wore down however, Gatti threw a hook to the body that missed Ward's side and clipped him on the lower half of his beltline. Ward was dropped by the punch to all fours, and he punched the canvas in pain. Referee Frank Cappuccino took a point from Gatti and then sent him to a neutral corner. At this point, Ward should have received five minutes to recover. But there were only a few seconds left in the round, and an inexperienced timekeeper simply rang the bell to end the round. Cappuccino was confused by the bell, and then suddenly declared the round over. He sent both men back to their corners... no extra rest time for Ward. Gatti's rally scored him a 9-9 with the deduction on our card, although a 10-8 for Ward would have been reasonable in this very close round.

Gatti clearly wanted to make up for the point deduction, and he stormed out of his corner to begin round five. Coming right at Ward, Gatti threw about 10 punches in combination at Ward's head. Not all landed, but enough did that Ward was sent back on his heels to the ropes. Following him in, Gatti dug to the body and fired a few more shots upstairs. But instead of moving away and beginning again, Gatti chose to remain on the inside. Perhaps he found his easy-to-hit target too inviting. No matter the reason, it was the wrong move. Ward is most dangerous in a phone booth, where the men now fought the next minute of the round. At such close range, Ward began landing his hook to the body, and a nice uppercut of his own. Gatti landed back in these close quarters, but Ward had the upper hand and it showed. Gatti took some heavy shots to the head and looked like he was fading under Ward's constant pressure. To try and revive himself, Gatti all of sudden exploded with a massive flurry to the head. He threw a good eight punches in tight sequence at Ward's face, and landed most of them. The crowd gasped at the speed and violence of the sequence. But their shock soon turned to pure boxing bliss as Ward, who was battered back into the ropes by the flurry, waited until Gatti was done before answering with an eight-punch flurry of his own. Ward came off the ropes and his own hands exploded. It looked as though he were rolling his gloves in place, as fighters often do when they're introduced in the ring, only he was bouncing his gloves off Gatti's chin. The crowd exploded in cheer.

Gatti fell back into the ropes, his head waving in different directions with each flush punch. Somewhere in this mayhem, Gatti received a cut of his own, albeit a small insignificant nick over the right eye. Ward continued to smack Gatti around the ring before the bell saved him from further punishment. All of a sudden, Gatti's early lead seemed meaningless.

Ward continued to apply the pressure to open round six. As Gatti moved away, Ward gave chase, and was throwing and landing some heavy shots. Gatti still didn't look fresh, and he was backed into a corner and eating Ward rights about a minute into the frame. But from that corner, Gatti lunged in with a haymaker of a right hand. The punch slammed into Ward's face, opening a tiny cut over Ward's left eye. Ward wasn't wobbled by the punch, but it certainly got his attention. Gatti was able to circle out of the corner, and Ward was now a bit slower in chasing him down. Ward's caution allowed Gatti to re-establish his footwork. Gatti circled the ring on somewhat renewed legs, and after a bit of time to clear his head, he began throwing the jab again. This was bad news for Ward, because when Gatti threw his jab, the combination punches that followed seemed to land and land clean. After a few Gatti flurries, Ward's lower lip began to swell (it would split and bleed down his face a round later), and Micky ended the round in a neutral corner taking a series a head-snappers from a rallying Gatti.

Gatti was back to the gameplan of box and move, and round seven was almost all Gatti. When Gatti moved, Ward could not keep up, and when Gatti moved after hitting Ward he once again began dominating the scoring. Gatti punished Ward in this round, and Ward looked battered. The cut he sustained in round one had continued to bleed all night, streaking down his face and mixing with the blood that came from his nose and mouth. Ward did his best to keep his hands high as Gatti flurried around him, but plenty of Arturo's punches found their target. A desperate Ward, who did little in terms of offense in the round, finally turned southpaw for the last 20 seconds of the round. All he got for his ingenuity was a Gatti hook to the chin that sent him back a few steps into the ropes. Returning to his corner, Ward was chastised by his team for being a punching bag during the preceding round.

Also a winner this nightWhether you gave round four to Gatti or Ward, the lead was now squarely with Gatti. He was boxing beautifully, outthrowing and outlanding Ward, and this pace continued well into round eight. It was all Gatti, in fact, until about 40 seconds remaining. Gatti had been punching and moving at a high rate for most of the round, and he slowed noticeably in the final minute. Ward noticed this and pounced. He began with a long right hand, followed with a big hook, and when both punches landed, he threw two more. Gatti was punched out, and could barely lift his arms to defend himself. Resting on the ropes, he tried to cover up, but Ward continued to pound him. Gatti briefly escaped only to have Ward chase him to another side of the ring, landing all the way. As the clock ticked out, Gatti was in serious trouble. A ref like Jay Nady would have already stepped in, as Gatti was doing nothing in return. Trapped on the ropes, Gatti looked out on his feet as Ward freely pounded his sides and head. Even Cappuccino, always late with the stoppage, was looking in close when a bell rang to save Gatti from a certain knockout. Another 10 seconds and the fight is over.

Gatti staggered back to his corner and slumped onto his stool. Once again, his lead on the scorecards was looking irrelevant. He continued to look weary as round nine began. Oh what a round. This is one that will be talked about for years.

Ward came at Gatti in round nine intent on finding out what the man had left in the tank. He crossed Gatti's face with a right and followed by turning his shoulders into a left uppercut. Gatti backed away from the flush shots and Ward followed with a vicious left hook to the side. Gatti's face crinkled in pain. His gooey legs tripped back a few steps and he sank to he knees in obvious distress. Cappuccino picked up the count at five, and by seven Gatti's face was still grimacing from the blow. He was struggling to gulp in a breath, and as Cappuccino called "eight," it momentarily looked like Gatti might not beat the count. At nine and half, Gatti slowly raised himself to his feet, but he did not look ready to fight. Cappuccino, ever the old-school ref, simply waved the action back on, and before you could say "ouch," Gatti was receiving the beating of his career.

Gatti's hands were down as Ward attacked freely, landing almost every punch he threw. A right, a left, a right and a left landed as Gatti staggered backwards across the ring. Ward mixed in two beautiful body hooks to the same spot that had just dropped Gatti, as the crowd tried to blow out the fighter's eardrums with their supersonic cheers. Ward spent nearly a minute battering Gatti's unprotected face from one end of the ring to the other, causing serious swelling to both of Gatti's eyes. God only knows what was keeping Gatti upright (or keeping Cappuccino from calling it), but just as the objective fan would assume Gatti was about to suffer serious brain damage, he woke up. Planting his feet near center ring, Gatti finally fired back with a hook. It landed, and a tiring Ward stopped punching. Gatti fired with two shots to the body, and Ward mustered up another crunching overhand right to Gatti's head. Gatti again dug to the body, and while Ward answered with another flush punch, it was Gatti who now refused to stop throwing. Swinging full power into his punches, Gatti began to chop down Ward. Ward took the shots in place at first, but after a sustained rally of axe swings, he began to retreat to a neutral corner. Gatti followed him in, and spent the middle minute of the round beating Ward up nearly as savagely as he himself had just been beaten. Punishing Ward to the body with repeated wrecking ball hooks, Gatti took his revenge for the knockdown. Suffice to say that the crowd was in absolute boxing nirvana.

Ward somehow hung in there, confident that Gatti, too would punch himself out. He was right. Gatti's arms could muster no more bombs, and with 40 seconds to go, Ward got his own chance at a miracle rally. With Gatti again too tired to defend himself, Ward now regained control and began to batter Gatti into the ropes. After two crisp rights, Ward measured Gatti with a stiff-arm left and then clocked him with an overhand right. Gatti bent over and looked out on his feet. Ward continued to pound on Gatti's sides, and the fight once again could have been stopped. Gatti simply stood there, semi-crouched, semi-protected while eating shots for a good 15 seconds. Gatti tried for a miracle, nailing Ward with a short right out of nowhere with only seconds to go, but the follow-up homerun hook missed, and Ward got in two more sickening body shots before the bell rang. It was a round for the record books, right up there with Round Four of Foreman-Lyle or Round Ten of Holyfield-Bowe.

Gatti returned to his corner looking even worse than he had a round previous. He looked so out of it that when the tenth and final round was about to begin, it looked to Ward's corner as though Gatti would not come out for the round. Ward raised his hands and began to run around the ring in celebration before Cappuccino informed him that the fight was still on, and the tenth round would be contested.

As miraculous as Gatti's comeback in previous fights have been, including several of the rallies from the edge of the defeat from this bout, perhaps his best rally of all time was this final round. After being out on his feet to end nine, Gatti came out and won the final round going away. He started by moving as he had in his best round, and after a short time he was again landing fierce combinations behind the jab. Ward got in his own fair share of heavy blows in the final round, but Gatti's hooks were landing hardest and most often. Plus, Gatti was effectively moving in between exchanges to control the pace. And even in the final 15 seconds, when both men stood at center ring in the traditional let-it-all-hang-out-final-flurry, it was Gatti's hook that got through and made Ward retreat a step and bend over.

With that final round in his column, Gatti had won the fight on the Boxing Chronicle card 95-93. If the very close third round had swung to Ward, it would have been 94-94. If ever a draw seemed acceptable, this would have been the fight. In fact, the first official score read was 94-94. The other two judges scored the bout 94-93 and 95-93... for Micky Ward.

It was probably a hometown decision. We can't really find another round to swing to Ward, despite the fact that this was a back-and-forth battle. Still, there could be little to complain about. This was an all-time classic fight, a fact that both fighters seemed to recognize and they hugged and shared a few laughs together in the ring after the fight.

So what's next for these warriors? Only a masochist would suggest a rematch, but let's face it... it will be the fight we most want to see. Certainly Gatti will want the do-over, despite the fact that this fight is that rare beast in boxing: the loss that doesn't, in any way, hurt the reputation or standing of the loser. If anything, Gatti looked his best in years for much of this fight. And his reputation as a crowd-pleaser has never been more complete. Rematch or not, Gatti will have more big paydays awaiting him.

And we say "rematch or not" because Micky Ward seemed hesitant to accept a rematch on the spot after the bout. While Ward freely admitted that the bout could have swung either way, he seemed fully aware of how much punishment he took during the bout. Ward has been thinking about retirement a lot lately. Once he's recovered, another big payday may be too tempting.. but as the adrenaline wore off and the effects of yet another war began to sink in, you could sense that Ward was thinking that maybe, just maybe, he's done enough in the sport. Only time will tell.

Tszyu with his beltsIf you have to pick a loser on this night, as we said earlier, it was Kostya Tszyu. The Russian-turned-Australian threw a shutout in Las Vegas against Ben Tackie. From the opening bell, Tackie gave up his height advantage by crouching in his stance and then standing exactly at the end of Tszyu's power shots.

From the opening bell, every time Tszyu threw a punch, Tackie was right there at the end of it. Tszyu must have landed 80% of his jabs flush on the face, so easy to hit was Tackie. But Tszyu did far more than jab. He followed his perpetual jab with almost every punch in the book. But his variety of punching paled in comparison the variety of speed at which he threw. While the constant flow of blows kept Tackie inactive most of the night, the real reason Tackie couldn't get anything started is that he didn't know what to expect. Sometimes Tszyu would throw a light right hand, sometimes he would step in and really launch it. He would throw a one-two-one-two with the third punch as the heaviest, then throw the same combination making the first and fourth punches heavier. Like Greg Maddux, Kostya Tszyu was striking out the side with change-ups.

If there is one thing Tszyu didn't do, it was throw to the body. Oh sure, occasionally he would launch a shot downstairs, such as in the second when Tackie finally dug with two downstairs rights and Tszyu quickly answered with a harder version of the same punch. But when you can land as often as you could on Tackie this night, why throw anything but head shots? Did we mention yet that Tszyu was landing everything?

And when we say everything, we mean everything. Tszyu would sometimes throw a jab-strength right hand behind the jab. But after he threw the punch, he would leave his shoulders turned, and then pump the right hand as though it were a right jab from the southpaw stance... only Tszyu's feet were still in the conventional stance. These rights would land flush and set up a left hook, or simply continue until Tszyu's left resumed the jabbing.

Kostya also was giving Tackie fits by mixing up his right. Tszyu would alternate throwing a wide looping right and a short straight right. He would sometimes throw the looping one lighter and then short one harder. Sometimes he would do the opposite. Tszyu threw a lot of double lead right hands. Tackie never knew what to expect.

For most of the early rounds, Tszyu spent a fair amount of time mixing in heavy committed blows with his "lighter" shots (the lighter shots still landing with blistering effect). But as Tackie upped the pace in round three, and again in the fifth, Tszyu seemed to realize that his opponent was not going to fold. As such, he paced himself a bit coming down the stretch. That's not to say that Tszyu threw fewer punches, but that he settled into a rhythm of beating Tackie while not really laying into his shots unless he needed to. By round seven, it was beginning to look like mittwork, with Tackie's face as the mitts. Tackie would simply try and walk Tszyu down while he continually circled his hands into Tackie's nose. We even scored that seventh round 10-8 without a knockdown, so effortless and one-sided was Tszyu's output.

The other fightOccasionally Tackie would catch Tszyu with part of a hook or right hand, but every time Tackie lucked out with a meaningful shot, Tszyu punished him back. By mid-fight, Tszyu had Tackie so well timed that almost every time Tackie threw he was sharply countered after missing. By the end of the fight, Tackie was trying to throw less, while Tszyu's accurate boxing simply banked round after round. We scored it 120-107. Two judges agreed that Tszyu won every round but forgave Tackie the seventh and scored 120-108. One charitable judge gave Tackie a single round, 119-109.

After the fight, an old and overweight looking Vince Phillips began calling out Tszyu for a rematch. A good payday for both, but not a competitive bout. Tszyu's only real challenge may come in a rematch with Judah, although another Tszyu blowout wouldn't be a shocker there, either. We'd like to see Tszyu even move up to 147... after this night it's clear that no one is going to take his titles any time soon.

On the Tszyu undercard, Oba Carr saw the end of his career look him straight in the eye as he lost his second consecutive bout. Both losses have come to late sub unknowns, and while his last loss was a second round TKO, this loss was far more humiliating. Carr lost every single round on the Boxing Chronicle card, and on one of the official cards as well. Two judges gave Carr a single round. Combined with a knockdown and two points lost for fouls, Carr loses by 13 pts (100-87) in a 10 round contest. He should have even been DQ'd after round nine, when he hit his opponent twice while Joe Cortez hugged him to end the round. Incredibly, Cortez took no points there, either.

Tackie gets in a rare rightCarr not only lost this fight, but demonstrated that he is absolutely, positively shot. Almost every single clean punch that his opponent, Ukrainian prospect Kuvanych Toygonbayev (now 18-1/12), landed wobbled Carr. Worse, the perennial contender was missing wildly all night with punches that looked like they should have come from Mia St. John, not a one-time contender for the welterweight crown. Carr's arms swings often left him hunched over off balance, and his power was gone. He did manage to find a hole in Toygonbayev's style late in the fight, and landed a series of hooks to the body/hook to the head combos... but it was not nearly enough. Toygonbayev was simply too adept at finding Carr in close. Every time Carr tried to hold, he'd eat a short hook or uppercut. He was staggered back several steps on his heels from mediocre punches at least a fifteen times during this fight, maybe twice that. He needs to retire. Please, Oba... retire.

.....Chris Bushnell
(Please send comments to us at:
BoxingChronicle@aol.com)




BOXING CHRONICLE.COM SCORECARD:

ROUND
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
TOTAL
GATTI
10
10
10
9*
9
10
10
9
8
10
95
WARD
9
9
9
9
10
9
9
10
10
9
93

* = -1 FOR LOW BLOW

ROUND
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
TOTAL
TSZYU
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
120
TACKIE
9
9
9
9
9
9
8
9
9
9
9
9
107

ROUND
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
TOTAL
CARR
9
9
8*
9
9
8**
8
9
9
9
87
TOYGONBAYEV
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
100

* = -1 FOR LOW BLOW
** = -1 FOR EXCESSIVE HOLDING

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