Arturo Gatti was a member of the Canadian national boxing team and had a chance to represent his country at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, but the chances were slim, and in 1991, Arturo decided it was time to try his hand at professional boxing. After 24 fights, he became world champion, defeating Tracy Harris Patterson in 1995.
His performance in that fight caught the attention of HBO, and Gatti got what many boxers dream of but only a few get: a long-term contract with the channel. And in Arturo’s next fight, HBO bosses realised they had made the right choice.
Losing on the judges’ scorecards, Gatti knocked out Wilson Rodriguez in the sixth round. The fight was the main contender for Fight of the Year in 1996, but in the end, the award went to a less spectacular but much more high-profile fight in which Evander Holyfield knocked out Mike Tyson.
However, 1997 was a triumphant year for Gatti, with the boxer nicknamed ‘Thunder’ literally shaking up the entire boxing world. Three victories in three fights, in two of which he defended his championship title, and for his fight against Gabriel Ruelas, Gatti received not only the ‘Fight of the Year’ award, but also the ‘Knockout of the Year’ award. In just a couple of years, Gatti became one of the most recognisable boxers in the world. With popularity came money, and with money, Arturo discovered nightclub life, which had a negative impact on his career.
Sport and gambling have always been and remain closely linked. For example, here at voltagebet.com, you can have a lot of fun with gambling.
Therefore, 1998 turned out to be a controversial year. Arturo received another ‘Fight of the Year’ award for his first fight against Ivan Robinson. The second fight was also dramatic and spectacular, but Arturo lost both, and before that, there was also an early defeat to Angel Manfreda — the doctor withdrew Gatti from the fight due to lacerations.
As a result, Gatti lost all three of his fights in 1998. In most cases, three consecutive defeats are a serious setback in the career of the vast majority of boxers, but with Gatti it was different. The public was so charmed by him that interest in his fights did not wane. Moreover, his fan base continued to grow.
Arturo Gatti gave his all in his fights, and the fans could feel it. Outside the ring, he was simple and open, and without knowing what he did for a living, it was impossible to see in this smiling and kind guy someone who was ready to fight in the ring to the last drop of blood. The combination of these factors made Gatti one of the most beloved boxers not only of his era, but in the history of boxing in general.
George Michael Ward Jr., better known as Mickey Ward, possessed the same qualities. However, while Gatti managed to find a competent manager at the very beginning of his professional career, Mickey Ward’s path in boxing was thorny. The Irishman made his professional debut in June 1985, exactly two weeks after his stepbrother Dickie Eklund ended his boxing career. Dickie became his younger brother’s trainer.
At first, everything went well — 14 consecutive victories in just two years — but the lack of a cohesive team led to Ward being perceived in the boxing world as a ‘journeyman’ — a fighter who was willing to fight on his opponent’s turf, on unfavourable terms and for a modest fee. All this, combined with a growing problem with his right hand, led to Mickey losing four fights in a row between April 1990 and October 1991. Ward needed surgery on his right hand, otherwise he could forget about boxing, so he decided to take a break from his career.
As for his hand, he injured it in a clash with the police near a club in 1987. Dickie Eklund tried to defend his friend who was being attacked, but Dickie’s bad reputation worked against him – the police who arrived at the scene believed that it was Eklund who had attacked the people and arrested him.
Ward tried to defend his brother, but was knocked to the ground, where he was struck several times with a police torch, cutting his head and breaking his arm.
The police did this deliberately when they found out that he was the boxer Mickey Ward. With no savings, Ward had to work hard and save money for surgery. In those years, he combined working as an asphalt paver with working on a construction site.
As a result, his break lasted almost three years. But when Ward returned to the ring in the summer of 1994, he racked up a series of nine consecutive victories. During this period, Ward made it onto HBO and earned a chance at a championship fight.
Mickey’s opponent was IBF welterweight champion Vince Phillips, who had won the title two months earlier by defeating Kostya Tszyu ahead of schedule. The fight against Phillips did not last long, with the doctor stopping Ward in the third round due to a cut. A year later, Ward lost to Zab Judah and had to start all over again. He won four fights in a row and earned a bout against Antonio Diaz.
If he won, Ward could have faced Shane Mosley, but he lost again. Mickey gained a reputation as a boxer who couldn’t win a significant fight that would allow him to take a serious step forward in terms of both rankings and fees. But in 2001, Mickey’s career took a turning point.
Lou DiBella, who had worked for HBO for 11 years, left the channel and founded his own promotional company. DeBella had been following Ward for a long time and believed he was capable of more, but he simply lacked a good team. So Ward became one of his first clients. And given that DeBella still had strong ties to HBO, it’s fair to say that luck came to the hard-working athlete. But even though he had already fought on HBO, he was a rare guest there, and in order to regain the interest of the main boxing channel of those years, which almost all boxers aspired to, he had to make a name for himself somehow.
Leave a Reply