Carlos Manuel Baldomir vs Arturo Gatti

Carlos Baldomir retained the World Boxing Council and Ring welterweight championships by stopping Arturo Gatti after two minutes and 50 seconds of the ninth round at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, on July 22, 2006. Gatti, who also held the lesser IBA title, was knocked down twice in the closing half-minute before referee Wayne Hedgpeth intervened. Baldomir had entered the contest with a record of 42 victories, nine defeats and six draws, while Gatti stood at 40 victories and seven defeats. Both were inside the welterweight limit, Baldomir at 146½ pounds and Gatti at 147. A sell-out crowd of 12,763 attended, almost entirely in support of Gatti, whose long association with Atlantic City had made the building his customary headquarters.

The champion had won his title six months earlier by upsetting Zab Judah at Madison Square Garden. Though his record contained several defeats and draws, most of them had occurred earlier in a career spent largely away from the leading American promotions. By the time he met Judah, he had gone more than seven years without losing. Gatti had moved permanently to welterweight after being stopped by Floyd Mayweather at junior welterweight in 2005. His eleventh-round victory over the previously unbeaten Thomas Damgaard in January 2006 had given him the IBA belt and encouraged him to seek another recognised world championship. Gatti began the contest as the betting favourite and had the advantage of the crowd, but Baldomir was the naturally stronger welterweight and proved able to absorb Gatti’s best punches without losing his position.

Baldomir established the pattern from the opening round. He advanced behind a high guard, accepted Gatti’s jab and brought the right hand over the top whenever the challenger remained within range. Gatti attempted to box from the outside, circling and using his left hand, but he did not maintain sufficient distance. Baldomir’s feet were not especially quick, yet he moved steadily forward and forced Gatti towards the ropes, where the challenger’s lateral movement became restricted. In the second and third rounds, Baldomir continued to land the harder punches, particularly the straight or chopping right to the head. Gatti answered with combinations and occasional left hooks to the body, but the blows made little impression upon the champion. Baldomir rarely gave ground and was able to resume his advance almost immediately after being hit.

The fourth and fifth rounds were increasingly severe for Gatti. Baldomir’s pressure brought him close enough to work with both hands, and he began to place hooks around the guard as well as rights through the centre. Gatti’s lower lip was cut, and a wound developed beneath his right eye. During the fifth, he was driven to the ropes and struck by another heavy right hand, after which he appeared momentarily dazed. He fought back when Baldomir paused, but his exchanges were becoming physically costly. The challenger had often succeeded during his career by turning difficult contests into close-range battles, but Baldomir was the larger and stronger man and could not be discouraged by the kind of punches that had broken down smaller opponents.

Gatti produced his best work in the middle rounds. He increased his movement in the sixth and seventh, used the jab more regularly and attempted to strike before Baldomir could set his feet. The improvement was sufficient for him to receive several rounds on the official cards, and he temporarily reduced the champion’s advantage. Baldomir nevertheless continued to come forward, taking Gatti’s punches on the gloves, arms and head while looking for the right hand. Gatti’s success depended upon constant movement, but the effort required to keep the heavier man away gradually reduced his speed. Whenever he stopped near the ropes, Baldomir resumed his body attack and drove punches through the guard. By the eighth round, Gatti remained competitive but was behind on all three scorecards and showed the accumulated effects of the champion’s pressure.

Baldomir opened the ninth with renewed purpose. He forced Gatti backwards and repeatedly brought the right hand through and around the challenger’s defence. Gatti attempted to trade rather than move away, but his punches no longer checked Baldomir’s advance. During the last minute, he was trapped along the ropes and subjected to a sustained attack. Baldomir landed several clean rights and hooks while Gatti covered and attempted to return fire. With approximately 30 seconds remaining, a left hook to the head sent Gatti heavily to the canvas. He rose before the completion of the count and indicated that he wished to continue, though his legs were uncertain and his face showed the effects of the previous assault.

Baldomir moved in immediately. A short series of punches drove Gatti down for the second time, and Hedgpeth stopped the contest without beginning another count. The official time was 2:50 of the ninth round. At the stoppage, Hubert Minn had Baldomir ahead 79–73, Tom Kaczmarek 78–74 and John Stewart 77–75. HBO’s unofficial scorer also had the champion leading 78–74. The margins differed because of Gatti’s rally in the middle rounds, but there was no dispute over Baldomir’s general command. Punch statistics credited him with landing 267 of 562 attempts, compared with 161 of 445 for Gatti. Baldomir connected with 226 power punches at a rate of nearly 48 per cent, evidence of how regularly he had been able to reach the challenger at close and middle range.

The victory confirmed that Baldomir’s defeat of Judah had not been an isolated result. He had entered Atlantic City as the less celebrated champion and stopped its most popular fighter by meeting him at close range and proving superior in strength, endurance and accuracy. Gatti said afterwards that he had tried to box but found Baldomir too strong, and he questioned whether he would fight again. He did return once more, against Alfonso Gómez in 2007, but the Baldomir contest had already shown that the years of severe fights and movement through the weight divisions had diminished his ability to sustain championship pressure. Baldomir left with the WBC, Ring and IBA titles and a record of 43 victories, nine defeats and six draws. Gatti had competed bravely and had rallied sufficiently to win some rounds, but courage could not overcome the champion’s physical advantage or the steady succession of right hands that brought the finish.

I thought Arturo Gatti had a chance against Carlos Baldomir because the champion still carried the look of an ordinary fighter who had caught Zab Judah on the wrong night. That was a mistake. Baldomir’s record was untidy, but by 2006, he was a seasoned, fully grown welterweight who had not lost for years. Gatti remained hugely popular in Atlantic City because people knew exactly what they were buying: courage, drama and a willingness to take punishment that most fighters would refuse. But popularity does not make you the bigger man.

Gatti tried to box early, using the jab and moving around the outside, but Baldomir kept walking through his punches. That told the story. Gatti had been a serious puncher at super-featherweight and lightweight, yet at welterweight, his shots no longer carried the same authority. Baldomir could take them, keep his shape and bring the right hand back with more weight. Once Gatti began trading, he was fighting the champion’s fight.

There were moments in the middle rounds when Gatti’s movement gave him some success, but he could not sustain it. Baldomir kept closing the space, working him towards the ropes and landing the cleaner, heavier punches. In the ninth, a left hook dropped Gatti hard. He got up because that was his nature, not because he had properly recovered. Baldomir put him down again, and the referee stopped it at 2:50. The champion was ahead on all three scorecards.

This was not Gatti suddenly becoming old overnight. It was a brave fighter operating above his best weight against a man too strong to discourage. Baldomir was better than people gave him credit for, and Gatti’s courage only prolonged the beating.