Arturo Gatti vs Gabriel Ruelas

Fifteen unanswered punches near the close of the fourth round appeared to have settled the championship, yet before the fifth was over, the man who had absorbed them had retained his title. That reversal made the contest between Arturo Gatti and Gabriel Ruelas the outstanding fight of 1997 and supplied its decisive left hook, later chosen by The Ring as the year’s best knockout. The bout took place in Atlantic City on October 4 as part of the Lennox Lewis–Andrew Golota programme. Gatti, making the third defence of his IBF junior-lightweight championship, and Ruelas, a former WBC champion, each weighed 130 pounds.

Ruelas began with purpose, carrying the attack behind a busy left hand and seeking to keep Gatti occupied at close quarters. He was warned for a low blow in the opening round but continued to press, throwing straighter punches and making the champion give ground. The second followed much the same course. Gatti attempted to answer with hooks from either hand, but Ruelas was generally first and maintained the greater volume. Two judges awarded Ruelas both opening rounds, while the third also gave him the third.

The exchanges grew harder in the third. Ruelas received another warning for hitting low, but his chief work was directed upstairs and to the body as he crowded Gatti. The champion began to find the range with his right hand and was more effective when given room to punch. He was already marked beneath the left eye, yet he stood increasingly firm and met the challenger rather than attempting to box at distance. By then the measured opening had given way to sustained trading, with neither man inclined to concede the centre of the ring.

Early in the fourth, Gatti drove an overhand right into Ruelas and staggered him. The challenger recovered promptly and resumed his advance. With 25 seconds remaining, Ruelas landed a heavy left uppercut which lifted Gatti’s head and left him badly hurt. He followed with a prolonged attack, striking with hooks and uppercuts as Gatti backed towards the ropes with his guard disordered. Approximately 15 punches landed without a reply. Gatti remained upright largely through instinct, turning slightly with the blows but unable to return fire. The bell arrived before Ruelas could complete the finish, and the champion walked unsteadily to his corner.

Ruelas came out for the fifth with good reason to believe the contest was ready to be taken. He pressed immediately and again brought the uppercut through Gatti’s defence. Gatti’s left eye was damaged, and he had not fully recovered the movement or balance shown earlier. Nevertheless, he continued to throw while under attack. The round developed into an exchange of uppercuts and short hooks, both men moving forward and taking clean punches. Ruelas appeared the stronger for much of it and kept Gatti under severe pressure, but his eagerness to finish caused him to square his feet and leave his chin exposed during the exchanges.

At 2 minutes 3 seconds, as both men punched together, Gatti produced a short left hook of exceptional force. The blow landed flush on Ruelas’s jaw and dropped him heavily. Ruelas rose before the completion of the count, but his legs were unsteady, and his eyes did not satisfy referee Benjy Esteves Jr. that he could defend himself. Esteves waved the contest over at 2 minutes 22 seconds of the fifth round. The challenger protested briefly, though his condition supported the referee’s decision.

At the finish, the official scoring showed how closely the contest had been divided. Judges John Stewart and Robert Gonzalez each had it level at 38–38, having awarded the first two rounds to Ruelas and the next two to Gatti. William James had Ruelas ahead by 39–37. There had been no knockdown until the final blow. Ruelas had done enough sustained work to place himself in front on one card and even on the others, only to lose the championship opportunity during an exchange he had appeared to be controlling.

Gatti improved his record to 29 victories against one defeat and retained the IBF title, while Ruelas fell to 44–4. Pernell Whitaker entered the ring afterwards to congratulate the champion, but the chief impression was not of celebration so much as astonishment at the recovery. Gatti had been close to stoppage at the end of the fourth and remained in difficulty during the fifth. His victory rested on one accurately delivered left hook thrown while Ruelas was pressing for the finish. The Ring subsequently named the contest its Fight of the Year and the concluding blow its Knockout of the Year.

In my opinion, this was the best win of Gatti’s career. He was already the IBF champion and had shown against Wilson Rodriguez that he could recover from serious trouble, but Gabriel Ruelas was a proven former champion who came to break him down, not merely survive.

Ruelas did the better work early. He crowded Gatti, shortened the distance and repeatedly brought the uppercut through the middle. By the end of the fourth, Gatti looked virtually finished. One left uppercut badly hurt him, and Ruelas followed with about 15 unanswered punches. The bell saved Gatti, and any sensible corner would have been considering whether to let him continue.

What happened next explains both Gatti’s popularity and his limitations. Instead of buying time and clearing his head, he stood with Ruelas and traded. Technically, it was reckless. Ruelas was still finding him with uppercuts and appeared close to forcing the stoppage. But while they exchanged, Gatti kept his shape just long enough to deliver that short left hook. Ruelas never saw it properly and went down heavily before the referee stopped it at 2:22.

It was correctly named Fight of the Year, and the finishing punch deserved Knockout of the Year. Gatti produced bigger nights later, particularly against Micky Ward, but for quality of opponent, adversity overcome and the manner of the finish, nothing surpassed this victory.