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Arturo Gatti Boxing
Autograph
Here is your chance to own a real autograph
from the human highlight Arturo "Thunder" Gatti.
Arturo Gatti is best known for his Three Wars with Irish
Micky Ward. Don't be fooled by all the fake Gatti stuff
out there. Gatti is the rarest signer in boxing. This Boxing
robe is an exact replica of a boxing robe Arturo Gatti has
worn in the ring. This very rare piece of memorabilia comes
with a photo from the actual signing!
Arturo Gatti
£175.00
Arturo Gatti has been coined “the
human highlight film.”
Gatti participated in the “Fight of
the Year” for three consecutive years: 1996-1998.
His three epic bouts against Micky Ward are
recognized as one of the greatest trilogies in boxing history.
And although his nickname is “Thunder,”
Arturo Gatti has risen from the ashes on so many occasions
that it would be more appropriate to designate him “The
Phoenix.”
Gatti was born in Italy and raised in Montreal,
Canada, but he has lived in Jersey City, NJ since 1991.
He speaks four languages—English, French, Spanish
and Italian—and began boxing at the age of eight.
He turned pro on June 10, 1991, scoring a
third-round TKO over Jose Gonzalez. He then went on to win
his next five straight--four inside the distance. After
suffering a minor setback to King Solomon in November 1992
(L 6), Gatti won his next 23 bouts--19 by KO--with 10 of
those coming in the first-round and just six extending past
the third-round.
On June 28, 1994, he won his first professional
title, the USBA jr. lightweight crown, by crushing defending
champion Pete Taliaferro in one round at The Meadowlands
Convention Center in Secaucus, NJ (TKO 1). Seven bouts later
he challenged for his first world title.
On December 15, 1995, in front of 16,000 rabid
fans at Madison Square Garden in New York, Gatti floored
defending IBF jr. lightweight champion Tracy Patterson once
in the second-round with a crisp right-uppercut on his way
to capturing a unanimous decision and the IBF title (W 12).
Gatti returned to the “Mecca of Boxing”
on March 23, 1996, to defend his title for the first time
against Wilson Rodriguez. It's doubtful that any of the
nearly 5,000 spectators expected to witness one of the greatest
fights ever; yet, that is exactly what they saw.
The fight began precariously for Gatti as Rodriguez's stiff
left jab and stinging right cross swelled Gatti's eyes immediately
in round one. Round two was even worse for the champ as
he was knocked to the canvas.
While cutman Joe Souza miraculously kept Gatti's eyes open,
Gatti continued his game plan of punishing Rodriguez's body.
With each ferocious body punch Rodriguez's hands lowered
further to protect his midsection. In the fifth-round, Gatti
drilled the Spaniard with a left hook that broke a rib and
sent the challenger to the canvas. In the sixth-round, Rodriguez
desperately attempted to protect his injured rib and by
doing so left his chin open to the left hook that ended
one of the greatest fights, and comebacks, in boxing history.
So impressive was Gatti's performance that the bout was
selected as 1996's "Fight of the Year."
On February 22, 1997, Gatti decisioned Patterson in their
rematch for his second IBF title defense (W 12).
Two bouts later on October 4, 1997, Gatti
sent boxing fans at Atlantic City’s Convention Hall
into a frenzy when he drilled former world champion Gabriel
Ruelas with a devastating combination in round five to successfully
defend his crown for the third time.
Gatti and Ruelas traded bombs for the first
three rounds of their junior lightweight championship bout.
Suddenly, in round four, Ruelas landed a vicious left uppercut
that rocked Gatti, leaving him dazed and in danger of collapsing.
Somehow, after absorbing 17 straight unanswered punches,
Gatti managed to remain on his feet and fire back a combination
at the bell.
Round five began disastrously for Gatti. Drilled
again by several uppercuts, Arturo's demise appeared imminent.
Valiantly, he pulled the trigger on his patented left hook,
landing it flush on the chin of Ruelas. Ruelas crashed to
the canvas, rose at the count of six, but was unable to
continue (TKO 5). Arturo had once again escaped the jaws
of death. The bout was selected as 1997’s “Fight
of the Year.”
Following the Ruelas bout Gatti relinquished
his crown and moved up to the lightweight division.
After losing to Angel Manfredy on January
17, 1998, thanks to a severe cut sustained in the first
round (TKOby 8), Gatti fought a memorable battle against
Ivan Robinson.
On August 22, 1998, Gatti and Robinson furiously
traded punches from the opening bell in a bout that won
1998 “Fight of the Year” honors. Gatti relentlessly
pursued Robinson, but was unable to equal Robinson’s
50% connect ratio. The Jersey City, NJ hero nearly pulled
off another miracle comeback in round 10 when with less
than 45 seconds to go in the fight he rocked Robinson with
a right hook and sent him reeling across the ring. Unfortunately,
Gatti was unable to finish-off Robinson before the bell
sounded ending the epic war (L 10).
Gatti lost another 10 round decision to Robinson
on December 12, 1998, but then rebounded to defeat his next
four opponents and earn a showdown against one of boxing’s
best pound-for-pound fighters, Oscar de la Hoya.
On March 24, 2001, Gatti again proved why he is boxing’s
most exciting fighter as he traded bombs with Oscar de la
Hoya for five rounds before his corner ended the bout by
throwing in the towel at the 1:16 mark of round five (TKOby
5). Gatti ripped de la Hoya with left hooks and overhand
rights, but was unable to overcome the bigger, stronger
former WBC welterweight champion. A wide gash opened under
Gatti’s right eye in the first round, which later
required 13 stitches to close.
He returned to the ring on Saturday, January 26, 2002, in
the Theater at Madison Square Garden and launched himself
into jr. welterweight world title contention by pummeling
former IBF jr. welterweight champion Terronn Millett in
four rounds (TKO 4). Under the tutelage of new trainer James
“Buddy” McGirt, Gatti boxed beautifully, flooring
Millett once in round three and twice in round four to earn
the stoppage. The official time was 2:23 of round four.
On May 18, 2002, Gatti lost a controversial majority decision
to Micky Ward in a bout that is a virtual lock to receive
2002’s “Fight of the Year” honors and
will be remembered as one of the greatest fights ever broadcast
in television history (L 10). The two fighters staged their
own “Rocky” movie, trading thunderous blows
from the opening bell. So overcome with excitement was HBO
commentator Emmanuel Steward following round nine that he
declared it the “Round of the Century”. Although
the judges scored the bout in favor of Ward, of the eight
members of the press polled at ringside following the bout,
seven selected Gatti as the winner. Boston Herald boxing
writer George Kimball best summarized the excitement of
ringside spectators: “The promoters who advertised
it as the ‘Fight of the Year’ may have understated
the case. . . . The bravery and resilience of both fighters
left the 6,254 in attendance both thrilled and mesmerized.”
On November 23, 2002, Gatti dominated Micky Ward to capture
a definitive unanimous decision victory in the highly-anticipated
rematch. In round three Gatti launched “one of the
greatest right hands I’ve ever thrown.” The
punch deflected off Ward’s shoulder before crashing
against his head, sending him to his knees, face-first into
the turnbuckle. Somehow, in a superhuman display of courage,
Ward managed to survive the round and continue to battle
until the final bell. However, Gatti’s superior boxing
skills governed the evening as the Jersey City, NJ fan-favorite
stung Ward repeatedly with stiff left jabs and thunderous
body punches, and slipped Ward’s lethal left hooks
with excellent head movement and lateral movement.
On June 7, 2003, Gatti and Ward completed their legendary
trilogy, trading blows for 10 rounds in a bout that is already
a favorite to earn 2003 “Fight of the Year”
honors. Despite breaking his hand in round four and having
to climb off the canvas in round six, Gatti out-worked Ward
to earn a unanimous decision victory (W 10). Following the
bout the gentleman warrior Ward was gracious in defeat,
acknowledging that Gatti deserved the victory: “He
[Gatti] hit me with some shots early that took the steam
out of me.” Ringside media gushed with praise for
both fighters:
“It wasn’t a trilogy. It was a thrillogy.”
Lenn Robbins, New York Post
“It seemed right that it ended this
way: both fighters on their feet in the 30th round of their
personal war, bleeding and swinging wildly, with fractured
hands, then waiting for the winner to be named and the pain
to disappear.”
Geoffrey Gray, New York Times
“In a fitting climax to their personal
rivalry, the junior welterweights battled for 10 more grueling
rounds Saturday night, with Gatti winning a unanimous decision
in the rubber match.”
John Curran, Associated Press
“It's almost hard to imagine that Gatti-Ward
III could live up to all the expectations heaped upon it
after the first two memorable bouts, but it did.”
Dan Rafael, USA Today
On January 24, 2004, over 11,000 fans jammed
Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ to watch Gatti capture
his second world title when he decisioned WBC #1 ranked
contender Gianluca Branco by the scores of 116-111, 115-112,
116-111 (W 12). Boxing’s most exciting fighter sealed
the WBC super lightweight crown in round 10 when he dropped
Branco with a devastating left hook to the chin. The bout
was broadcast on HBO’s “World Championship Boxing”
series.
Gatti successfully defended the WBC super
welterweight crown on July 24, 2004, with a second round
stoppage of Leonard Dorin (KO 2). With just seconds remaining
in round two, Gatti landed a crippling left hook to the
body that sent Dorin to the canvas where he was counted
out by referee Randy Neumann.
On January 29, 2005, Gatti knocked out former
world champion Jesse James Leija (KO 5). Midway through
round five Gatti dropped Leija with an overhand right that
landed on the point of Leija’s chin. Leija rose to
his feet and courageously traded with Gatti, but only to
be dropped a second and final time by a left hook above
the ear. He was counted out at the 1:48 mark of round five.
Gatti’s impressive performance was best summed-up
by New York Post columnist George Willis: “It was
a perfect exhibition of what Gatti has become of late: a
puncher who can box.”
On June 25, 2005, Gatti was stopped in six
rounds by boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighter, Floyd
Mayweather, Jr. (TKO 6). Following the completion of the
sixth round Gatti trainer James ‘Buddy” McGirt
instructed referee Earl Morton to halt the bout.
Gatti returned to the win column on January
28, 2006, with a hard fought 11th round knockout of undefeated
Danish contender Thomas Damgaard to win the IBA welterweight
championship (TKO 11). Gatti ignored a fourth-round hand
injury and pounded Damgaard with a battery of right uppercuts
and overhand rights to dismantle the durable European in
a performance that left the 11,500 Atlantic City, NJ boxing
fans in attendance standing on their feet from the opening
bell. The bout was televised by HBO, marking the 19th time
that Gatti has appeared on the network. He is among the
top-five boxers who have appeared most on HBO in the network’s
history.
In his last bout on July 22, 2006, Gatti lost
his quest to earn his third world championship when he was
stopped in nine rounds by WBC/Linear World Weighterweight
Champion Carlos Baldomir (TKOby 9).
