On Saturday, June 25th, 2005, the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, played host to the highly anticipated WBC World Super-lightweight Title fight between Arturo Gatti and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Promoted by Main Events, the event marked Gatti's third defense of his title. Originally scheduled for June 11th, the fight was postponed when Mayweather's promoter missed the deadline to sign a contract.
Dubbed "Thunder & Lightning," the fight drew a sold-out crowd of 12,675 with Gatti receiving a purse of $3.5 million and Mayweather earning $3.2 million. This was the first time Mayweather headlined a pay-per-view event, which generated 340,000 buys and $15.3 million in revenue.
From the opening bell, Mayweather dominated Gatti through six rounds. In the first round, Gatti was knocked down by a left hook when he turned away, thinking the referee was going to break the fighters. Though he was quickly up, Gatti struggled to keep up with Mayweather's speed and agility.
Late in the first round, as Gatti bent forward, Mayweather leaned on him and continued to punch despite the referee's instruction to stop. Gatti looked to the referee to complain, but the punches continued.
Mayweather landed combinations almost at will on the slower Gatti and relentlessly pounded him until trainer Buddy McGirt stopped the fight with Gatti on the stool after the sixth round. With this victory, Mayweather became the new WBC World Super-lightweight Champion.
