Thunderstruck!

white is right

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Before a packed house at Boardwalk Hall in his fistic home of Atlantic City, New Jersey, Arturo Gatti ran out of miracles Saturday night as he fell victim to the relentless pressure and precision pounding of WBC welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir, visiting the canvas twice en route to a ninth round TKO loss.

"I am the true champion," said Santa Fe, Argentina's Baldomir, who followed up his upset win over Zab Judah in January with another dismantling of a boxing superstar.

Next on his list? Perhaps 147-pound beltholders Floyd Mayweather Jr., Ricky Hatton, or Antonio Margarito.

As for Gatti, his welterweight experiment, which began with a win over Thomas Damgaard earlier this year, may have hit its conclusion, as he was simply unable to deal with a stronger and bigger foe who was unmoved by punches that would have taken out lighter foes.

"By the time I neutralized him with my boxing, it was too late," said Gatti. "I was tired, he kept putting pressure on, and he was very strong. He really did a great job against me."

The action was brisk in the first round, with Gatti mixing up his punches well and reddening Baldomir's face while the champion trudged forward with some chopping hooks that landed with little effect.

Baldomir introduced the jab into his arsenal in round two and it worked well throughout the frame as he appeared to throw Gatti off the easy rhythm he established in the opening round, and 'Tata' continued to land effectively in the third. Gatti returned fire eagerly, but his punches had little effect other than to rouse a roar from the crowd, and by the end of the round Baldomir was winning the toe-to-toe exchanges and had the challenger reaching for the ropes to steady himself at the bell.

A cut under Gatti's right eye began flowing blood early in the fourth, and as expected, 'Thunder' abandoned his stick and move posture and began stalking Baldomir with power shots, some of which landed, but without provoking even a change in expression from the Argentinean.

Midway through the fifth, Baldomir hit paydirt as he stunned Gatti with a right to the head, but the Jersey City resident survived the onslaught and came back with hellacious shots of his own. But while Baldomir's shots hurt Gatti, Gatti's return fire was merely annoying to the champion.

Baldomir staggered Gatti again a minute into the sixth with a shot to the beltline, but when Gatti stepped backwards and waved his oft-injured right hand as if he just hurt it, there was enough of a break in the action to allow him to recover. And Gatti kept firing back, but his power at 147 pounds was obviously not enough to dent the chin of a true welterweight.

For his part, Baldomir stayed steady, picked his shots, and refused to be moved by Gatti's offensive retorts.

In the eighth, Gatti got a second wind and boxed in a disciplined fashion, putting together one of his better rounds in a while, but in round nine, maybe sensing that he only had another round or two left, he started winging haymakers at Baldomir in an effort to end the bout. Baldomir eagerly responded, sending Gatti to the canvas with a hard left hook after a furious exchange on the ropes. Gatti gamely rose to his feet, but seconds later another left hook put him down a second time, and referee Wayne Hedgepeth immediately halted the bout at the 2:50 mark of the ninth, perhaps putting an end to the career of one of the sport's most popular warriors.

"It was a tough thing to take a beating like that tonight," said Gatti, 34. "Right now, I'm gonna rest. After what happened tonight, I might think about it (retirement). Gatti was ground down by the bigger man, It was weird but the heavier muscled Gatti couldn't deal with the naturally stronger Argentine. Baldomir goes on to bigger and better fights.......Edited by: white is right
 

Hockaday

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May 3, 2006
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This fight reminded me of the Arguello-Pryor fights. In both bouts, Arguello continually nailed Pryor with crushing left hooks and right crosses, and Pryor just kept coming. Gatti landed some beautiful shots on Baldomir, the same shots that pulled him out of many a jam before, but the Argentine was just too big. The announcers said Baldomir walks around at 187 when not in training.

In a way, it's sort of karma for Gatti, because early in his career he played the same game, sweating down to make 130, then by fight time coming into the ring around 147. What goes around comes around.

If he's too stubborn to call it quits, Gatti should go back down to 140 and try for Hatton and one last big payday. But he really should retire. He's had a fine career.
 

white is right

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It was similar but Arguello had stronger moments than Thunder did. It also reminded me of Marciano vs Moore where the smaller man no matter what tricks he tried couldn't blunt the larger mans power. Baldomir reminds me of a smaller Gene Fullmer.......
 
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