* did people expect it to be as good as it was, was that the anticipation? *was it touted as a one off? Or a cross roads fight, did either man really have a future?... and did that change after the fact? *was it as "good" as it was remembered as being? Or just two scrubs? *why did Gatti win the next two? *how would either man have done vs todays 140lbrs.... or tomorrow's 140lbrs?
Well lets just say neither one was nominated for the top 10 p4p list or even top 30 at the time. But I wouldnt call them scrubs either. Gatti was the better of the two. Gatti was a B level fighter with a very fan friendly style and had a huge fan base. Mickey Ward was no scrub himself but more of gate keeper imo. To summarize without sounding too harsh. I loved their Trilogy and how HBO promoted them to get them the decent pay day they deserved. But they were never more than a couple of tough as nails over achievers.
Gatti was a pretty big favorite going in. He was coming off of looking good destroying Terron Millet on the Forrest-Mosley 1 undercard, and the general feeling was that he was gonna beat the shit outta Ward.
Terron the Tramp Millet had the worst defense. He was taylor made for Gatti. One of his best performances.
As for how Gatti and Ward fare versus today's junior welterweights - they both get beaten up by Taylor and Prograis. They might have a chance with Ramirez, but they probably lose to him also.
Foreman infamously said that Gatti looked like Ray Leonard throwing combos against Millet. Lampley very awkwardly replied, "Welll... sort of..."
Foreman loved other fighters. Literally if you could tie your boxing boots faster than Foreman he'd tell people about this guy he'd seen who had this special skill. Foreman just wanted to see the best in other fighters.
Too early to tell. Whats not too early to tell is that Teofimo would beat Ward within an inch of his life.
He was a small small guy. Gatti was too big for him. Millet got the better of a totally drained VP who had Allegedly blown up to 180 between fights. Gatti was reinvented back then as a boxer under the auspices of Buddy McDirt. They had him beating up JJ Leija, little Joe Hutchinson and Millet. Prior to Ward there had been a genuine attempt to reinvent Gatti as a sober tactical boxer.
Probably the most impressive thing Gatti did was KO Leo Dorin with a body shot. Dorin was seen by many as the favorite in that fight, so Gatti deserves credit for how he ended it.
I'm sure Buddy tried to get Gatti to box Ward. But like Tyson said everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. And its a good thing Gatti wasnt more tactical on their first fight or we wouldnt have this badass trilogy today.
I agree that dorin was gatti's most impressive career victory. Leija was also a dominant performance for him. At that point, the pinnacle of gatti's career, Mayweather Jr took him on
People expected it to be a good fight, most didn’t expect to get something insane like round 9 of that fight. Just like people expected Corrales-Castillo to be a good fight, but didn’t think we’d get one the best fights ever. Gatti was expected to win as Ward was older and toward the end of his career, and Gatti coming off a highlight reel win over Millett. Gatti was usually a step ahead of Ward in the trilogy, beating Ward to the punch and his legs/movement was superior.
Well atleast in the Gatti fight I didnt see that great defence. I remember Millet tried to slug it out with Gatti and that was a big mistake. Then got hurt and backed away with his hands down.
Foreman: Quartey isn’t throwing much. Larry: Oscar is not throwing much either. Foreman: Uh, not much is a lot for Oscar De La Hoya. Not much IS a lot.
After the gatti vs Millet fight Lampley: I think Gatti has a future at 140 if he continues boxing like that. Foreman: yeah especially if there's a lot of Mullets ....erm I mean Millets Lol
Honestly, I've always preferred watching Ward. He was more entertaining outside of their series and his style is more appealing to me.
Dorin was semi-retired anyway. Dorin seemed to lose all his fire for the sport after getting fucked against Spadafora.
