Arturo Gatti vs Leonard Dorin

Arturo Gatti made the first defence of his World Boxing Council super-lightweight championship by knocking out Leonard Dorin with a left hook to the body after 2 min 55 sec of the second round at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on July 24, 2004. Dorin, previously unbeaten as a professional and a former World Boxing Association lightweight champion, sank first to his right knee and then placed both gloves on the canvas. He remained there while referee Randy Neumann completed the count. The finish was sudden but conclusive, bringing Gatti his 38th victory in 44 contests and inflicting the first defeat of Dorin’s professional career.

Gatti weighed 139¼lb and Dorin 139lb. Gatti entered with a record of 37 victories and six defeats, while Dorin stood at 22 wins and one draw. The champion was 32 and had won the vacant WBC title six months earlier by outpointing Gianluca Branco over twelve rounds in the same building. That victory had followed his celebrated three-fight series with Micky Ward and represented a more disciplined phase of Gatti’s career under trainer Buddy McGirt. Dorin, a Romanian based in Montreal, had held the WBA lightweight championship and had fought IBF champion Paul Spadafora to a disputed draw in a unification contest in May 2003. Moving to super-lightweight, he was ranked as the WBC’s leading challenger and appeared capable of applying the close pressure which had troubled Gatti in earlier contests.

Dorin was the shorter man, but he was accustomed to working his way inside behind a high guard and attacking in combinations. Gatti possessed the longer reach and, rather than meeting the challenger in a prolonged exchange, used the opening round to establish the distance. His left jab repeatedly checked Dorin’s advance. He moved after punching and avoided remaining directly in front of the Romanian, whose best opportunity depended upon forcing the champion towards the ropes and keeping him there. Gatti’s work was patient and orderly. He did not abandon the aggression for which he was known, but placed it behind the jab and refused to give Dorin the stationary target he required.

Dorin continued to press, though much of his early effort was spent crossing the space Gatti had created. The challenger’s nose began bleeding as the champion’s straight punches found the target. Gatti also mixed the right uppercut into his attack when Dorin bent forward, although he briefly grimaced after landing one such punch and appeared concerned about the right hand he had injured in previous contests. There was no lasting difficulty. Gatti continued to use the hand and remained in control, while McGirt reminded him between rounds to direct more of his attack downstairs. The trainer had identified that Dorin’s compact guard protected his head but left openings around the ribs when he came forward.

The pattern continued during the second round. Gatti kept Dorin at the end of the jab and stepped away from attempts to draw him into close exchanges. Dorin remained willing and advanced steadily, but he was unable to establish the sustained body attack which had served him well at lightweight. Gatti’s greater size and reach were being used with judgement rather than simply as physical advantages. He made Dorin reset after each unsuccessful approach, then met him with straight punches or a short combination before moving again.

The decisive attack came in the final seconds of the round. Gatti struck Dorin with a left, right and left to the head, causing the challenger to raise his guard and remain square in front of him. Gatti then planted his feet and delivered a single left hook beneath Dorin’s right elbow. The punch landed against the body with full force. Dorin’s legs gave way immediately. He dropped to his right knee, lowered himself onto both knees and placed his gloves on the floor as Neumann began the count. There was no attempt to rise before ten. Gatti turned towards his corner and leapt into the arms of his manager, Pat Lynch, as the contest was declared over.

Dorin remained in discomfort after the count. Ringside physician Dr Kenneth Remsen said the blow had taken away his breath and caused his stomach muscles to spasm, and he considered it possible that a rib had been broken. Unlike many of Gatti’s victories, there had been no prolonged punishment and no need for the champion to recover from a crisis. Gatti left the ring without a visible mark and collected a reported purse of $1.75 million. His own explanation was simple: he had expected Dorin to leave the body exposed and knew the contest was finished when the challenger went down.

The result was notable because Gatti had won by discipline before winning by force. His reputation had been built largely upon severe contests in which he absorbed almost as much punishment as he delivered, but Dorin was not permitted to make this another such affair. The champion used the jab, maintained his distance and attacked the opening selected by his corner. Dorin had entered as an undefeated former champion with a sound record and considerable amateur experience, but he was conceding natural size to a man who had developed into a full super-lightweight. Once Gatti persuaded him to protect the head, the left hook to the body ended the contest with one clean blow.

Gatti retained the WBC championship and advanced to a second defence against former champion Jesse James Leija in January 2005. Dorin never fought professionally again, retiring with a record of 22 victories, one defeat and one draw. The match lasted fewer than six completed minutes, yet it provided one of Gatti’s clearest victories. There were no disputed scorecards, no question over the intervention and no need for the resilience which had so often rescued him. He controlled the challenger from the opening bell and completed the defence with a body punch delivered at precisely the moment Dorin’s guard had been drawn away from it.

Arturo Gatti had built his name through the sort of punishment most fighters spend their careers trying to avoid. By the time he met Leonard Dorin, though, Buddy McGirt had taught him that bravery did not mean standing still and getting hit. Gatti had beaten Gianluca Branco for the WBC super-lightweight title six months earlier, while Dorin arrived unbeaten, a former lightweight champion and a serious pressure fighter who had pushed Paul Spadafora to a draw. This was no soft first defence.

What impressed me was how disciplined Gatti looked. He used his reach, kept Dorin outside with the jab and refused to give him the close-range scrap he wanted. Dorin kept coming, but he was walking into straight punches and having to reset every time Gatti moved. That takes the sting out of an aggressive fighter because he is spending energy just getting into range.

The finish in the second was down to accurate body punching. Gatti brought Dorin’s gloves upstairs with a combination, planted his feet and drove the left hook underneath the elbow. Dorin dropped to his knees and stayed there as Randy Neumann counted him out at 2:55. There was nothing theatrical about it. A clean liver shot shuts the body down, no matter how brave you are.

For me, this was one of Gatti’s best performances because he did not need a crisis to bring out his quality. He boxed intelligently, controlled an unbeaten former champion and ended matters with one perfectly chosen punch.