Could a Baldomir-Gatti fight be on the horizon?
The Arturo Gatti-Thomas Damgaard fight Saturday has taken on added importance in the wake of Carlos Baldomir's recent title-winning upset of Zab Judah.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- What began simply as a comeback fight for Arturo Gatti suddenly has taken on world title implications.
Gatti (39-7, 30 KOs) will face hard-punching Danish southpaw Thomas Damgaard (37-0, 27 KOs) before an expected sellout crowd at Boardwalk Hall on Saturday night (HBO, 9:45 ET) in Gatti's first ring appearance since he took a beating and lost his junior welterweight title via sixth-round TKO to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in June.
Gatti, who is moving up to welterweight, figures prominently in the title picture if he can defeat Damgaard, who will be fighting outside of Denmark for the first time.
"Baldomir is certainly a possibility," if Gatti wins, said Carl Moretti, vice president of promoter Main Events.
"We've had some quick conversations with Baldomir's people. First we want to see what happens on Saturday. We have to see how Arturo looks with Damgaard, who is a tough opponent. But if he looks good, we will try to make that fight. The welterweight division just got more interesting with Gatti in it."
"I think that Baldomir winning the title opened a whole new door for Arturo," manager Pat Lynch said.
"You don't want to look past Damgaard at all, but Baldomir is very intriguing to us. Right after the Judah fight we reached out for them and they thought a Gatti fight was a great idea. And now with the Judah-Mayweather fight being made, if Baldomir wants a high-profile name, Gatti is his man."
Gatti won titles at 130 and 140 pounds but was written off by many after the crushing loss to Mayweather. But Gatti said he feels like he has a lot left in the tank and would like to win a third title before ending one of the most electrifying careers in recent ring history.
| “ | Let's give props to [Carlos] Baldomir. He could beat me. I brawl like him, so he would have an opportunity to beat me. Who knows? I doubt it, but it would be a good fight. ” | |
| — Arturo Gatti on the possibility of fighting new welterweight champ Carlos Baldomir |
He said Baldomir would be an ideal fight for him.
"Baldomir? Timing is everything," Gatti said. "He can make money with me, so I am the only one he should fight. Let's give props to Baldomir. He could beat me. I brawl like him, so he would have an opportunity to beat me. Who knows? I doubt it, but it would be a good fight. The fans would love it."
"Arturo wants to shoot for another world title," Lynch said. "There will be a lot of eyes on him in this fight because of the outcome of the last fight. But he feels much stronger at 147. He wants to look explosive and terrific, and make an impact at 147."
Baldomir was a huge underdog when he outpointed Judah on Jan. 7 in New York in one of the biggest upsets of recent years. He nearly knocked Judah out in the seventh round and won a unanimous decision.
Now the 37-year-old Argentine fighter is looking to cash in on his newfound stature as welterweight champ. That means finding the biggest money fight available, and the popular Gatti can certainly make the cash registers ring.
"We're talking to everybody and whichever fight is the heaviest financial offer wins," said Mike Marley, a spokesman for Baldomir promoter Sycuan Ringside Promotions.
"As far as Gatti goes, it would be a great fight. They'd go right after each other. And we know Gatti brings money because he is such a huge box office star and an HBO fighter. He's got widespread appeal. Carlos has been a journeyman guy and now it's time to cash in."
Gatti said rumors of him aiming for a fight with junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton, who is planning to leave England to fight in the United States, are false.
"Ricky Hatton is not even in the picture," said Gatti, adding that he will never go back to 140 pounds after having so much difficulty making the weight in recent fights.
He said he is at welterweight to stay.
"I'm looking to win this fight with Damgaard, which I think will be a tough fight. And then I am looking to beat Baldomir," he said. "I am looking to fight [junior welterweight titlist] Miguel Cotto at 147. That's my plan before I retire, but I don't want to jump the gun."
Banner signs Hatton: Junior welterweight champion Hatton's plan to come to America is in full swing. The British star, who split with longtime promoter Frank Warren following his big victory against Kostya Tszyu last summer, has signed with Philadelphia-based Banner Promotions, which is headed by Artie Pelullo.
| Showtime eyeing Jones deal? |
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The multi-year deal is a co-promotional agreement along with England's Fight Academy, headed by Dennis Hobson, who promoted Hatton's last fight, a 140-pound unification bout with Carlos Maussa.
Pelullo, Hobson and Hatton attorney Garreth Williams made the rounds this week in New York for meetings with HBO and Showtime. Both networks are interested in Hatton, the 2005 ESPN.com Fighter of the Year and widely regarded as one of the best and most exciting fighters in the world.
Once an American TV deal is in place, Hatton hopes to be back in the ring in May.
Pelullo wouldn't acknowledge the signing, saying only that "Dennis Hobson, Garreth Williams and myself had meetings with Showtime and HBO."
However, executives from both networks told ESPN.com that Pelullo and Hobson came to meetings representing Hatton as his co-promoters.
The signing is being kept quiet because Ray Hatton, Ricky's father, wants to make the official announcement in England next week, when the family returns from a vacation in Egypt.
Pelullo, whose other star fighter is former lightweight and junior lightweight titlist Acelino "Popo" Freitas, had stiff competition for Hatton from numerous American promoters, most notably Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions.
'BAD' update: HBO's revamped "Boxing After Dark" series is slated to return April 29. Although the paperwork is not signed yet, the main event has been agreed to: Freitas vs. Zahir Raheem, who upset Erik Morales last fall, for a vacant lightweight belt at the Foxwoods resort in Connecticut.
Middleweight Andre Ward, the 2004 U.S. Olympic light heavyweight gold medalist, is being lined up for the eight-round co-feature.
"Boxing After Dark" is being relaunched as a monthly series with a reduced license fee of $250,000-$300,000 per show and will have a new broadcast team. Only Max Kellerman, formerly of ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights," is set for the series. HBO has been auditioning blow-by-blow men and various fighters for the expert analyst role.
Mayweather's audition took place on an undercard fight on the Jan. 21 Morales-Pacquiao II card when he called one of the bouts with Jim Lampley. Other fighters who have been tested include Hopkins, Tarver and Hasim Rahman. During the Gatti-Damgaard undercard, former heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis is supposed to audition.
A hero's welcome: Thousands of Filipinos lined the streets of Manila on Friday to cheer Manny Pacquiao, who made a triumphant return from his knockout victory against Morales on Jan. 21 in their exciting rematch in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao waved to fans from a truck decked with Philippine flags and sporting two large red boxing gloves as his motorcade left the Malacanang presidential palace, where he was received by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, according to The Associated Press.
Pacquiao, who turned the tables on Morales after losing a close decision in 2005, is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, celebrities in the Philippines
Morales resting: After Pacquiao's 10th-round TKO of Morales in their action-packed junior lightweight rematch Saturday night, Morales was so exhausted and busted up that he did not make an appearance at the postfight news conference. Instead, Morales was taken to a Las Vegas hospital for observation.
Morales, who was released and is OK, released a statement this week giving Pacquiao credit for his rousing victory.
"Last Saturday night I ran into a guy with a lot of ambition who wanted to win very much," said Morales, who was knocked down twice in the 10th round.
| “ | I think I had some good moments early, but was getting very tired as the fight was going into the later rounds. I have nothing but respect for Pacquiao. He's a good person and he beat me. You won't hear any excuses from me. ” | |
| — Erik Morales, who was taken to the hospital immediately after his loss to Manny Pacquiao on Saturday, in a statement addressing the bout |
"He was in great condition and was obviously well prepared to fight me. It was a very tough, intense fight. I think I had some good moments early, but was getting very tired as the fight was going into the later rounds. I have nothing but respect for Pacquiao. He's a good person and he beat me. You won't hear any excuses from me.
"After the fight I was taken to the hospital to make sure that I was alright and everything came out fine. Now I'm looking forward to getting some rest and spending some time with my wife Andrea, who is due in February with our first child, a boy. Bob Arum and Top Rank have given me their unconditional support, as they always have. Now I will take some time off and think about what my next move will be."
Morales, 29, holds an option for a third fight with Pacquiao if he wants it, but the fight would have to happen within six months if he does.
Barrera moving up: After months of speculation, it is official: Unified junior lightweight champ Marco Antonio Barrera is going to move up to lightweight for a crack at titlist Jesus Chavez.
They'll meet March 25 (HBO, 9:30 p.m. ET) at the MGM in Las Vegas in a fight dubbed "The Ultimate Challenge."
There are two major subplots to what should be an action-packed fight:
• Barrera (61-4, 41 KOs), who has won titles at junior featherweight, featherweight and junior lightweight, will attempt to become the first Mexican fighter to win titles in four divisions. He unified 130-pound titles in September, when he soundly outpointed Robbie Peden.
A victory could also propel Barrera into a big money rematch with Pacquiao, who scored an 11th-round knockout victory against Barrera in 2003.
• Chavez (43-3, 30 KOs), a former junior lightweight champion, moved up to lightweight on the Barrera-Peden undercard and defeated Leavander Johnson to win a title. However, Johnson suffered a brain injury during the 11th-round TKO loss and died five days later. The fight with Barrera will be Chavez's first since that tragedy and questions abound about Chavez's mental approach to the fight.
The probable HBO undercard will feature junior lightweight titlist Jorge Barrios (44-2-1, 32 KOs) facing southpaw Janos Nagy (23-0, 14 KOs), the mandatory challenger from Hungary.
Adamek hungry: Light heavyweight titlist Tomasz Adamek of Poland is anxious to fight, which is why he and manager Ziggy Rozalski are in Florida this week to meet with promoter Don King about the exciting champion's next bout.
"We're ready to fight anyone," Rozalski said. "We just want to fight. We will go anywhere in the world. We went to Germany, to enemy turf and won. We will fight anybody in the world because Tomasz is a real champion. But we have to get back to work. ESPN, HBO, Showtime, we just want people to be able to see Tomasz because when they do they will fall in love with him. We want to fight on any network that will put us on. If they do, they won't be disappointed."
Adamek (30-0, 21 KOs) made a splash by outpointing Paul Briggs for a vacant belt in May in Chicago in one of 2005's bloodiest, most action-packed fights. Adamek, who has a wife and two daughters, entered his first fight in the United States with a broken nose but kept it a secret so the fight would not be postponed.
In October, Adamek traveled to Germany to face Thomas Ulrich and put on a terrific performance in scoring a crushing sixth-round knockout.
Familiar face for Castillo: Former lightweight champ Jose Luis Castillo (53-7-1, 47 KOs) is preparing for his Feb. 4 (Showtime) fight against Rolando Reyes (26-3-2, 16 KOs) with a familiar face. Castillo is sparring with former titlist Julio Diaz, whom Castillo stopped in the 10th round of a title defense in March 2005.
"Diaz is a good boxer, very quick and fast," Castillo said. "He will help me in my final phase of sparring to get set for Reyes."
Castillo was supposed to fight a rubber match with rival Diego Corrales in El Paso, Texas, but a rib injury knocked Corrales out of the fight, which is expected to be rescheduled in the spring.
Valuev's first defense: Heavyweight titlist Nicolay Valuev (43-0, 31 KOs), who won a belt on a controversial decision against John Ruiz in December, will make his first defense April 1 in Hamburg, Germany.
But his choice of opponent, Owen Beck, is highly questionable. Beck has lost two of his last three and has never beaten a notable opponent. The only two times Beck (25-2, 18 KOs) did face a name opponent he lost -- a split decision against fringe contender Ray Austin and a knockout loss to Monte Barrett. In his last fight, Beck fought an eight-round bout and won a decision against Darnell Wilson, who was making his heavyweight debut after a career as a light heavyweight.
But that probably won't stop promoter Wilfried Sauerland from trying to sell it to the public as a serious title fight. But given that the fight is on April Fool's Day, perhaps that shouldn't come as any surprise.
Litzau in action: Featherweight prospect Jason Litzau (16-0, 14 KOs), who some have compared to a young Gatti, will face former junior featherweight title challenger Carlos Contreras (20-11-3, 13 KOs) in a 10-rounder on the Gatti-Damgaard undercard.
Litzau is pumped to be on the same card with Gatti.
"This is my biggest opportunity yet, fighting right before Arturo Gatti enters the ring in front of 10,000 hard-core Gatti fans," Litzau said. "I can't wait to show my stuff."
Contreras, who lost a title challenge to then-champion Lehlo Ledwaba and has gone the distance with former champ Johnny Tapia, represents the best opponent of Litzau's young career.
"He has fought for [a] world title; he has fought in 34 fights; and he has gone the distance with two other world champions," Litzau said. "I will have to be at my best to defeat him because he is relentless in his pursuit and throws over 90 punches per round."
Litzau prepared for the fight training at Gatti trainer Buddy McGirt's Vero Beach, Fla., gym and also worked with Gatti's strength coach, Teddy Cruz.
Powell to graduate?: Junior middleweight Sechew Powell has grown up on "ShoBox: The New Generation" and provided the series with one of its most amazing moments.
But Powell is on the verge of being a contender, not a prospect, so he will probably be making his fifth and final appearance on the series Feb. 3 (Showtime, 11 p.m. ET/PT) at Airway Heights, Wash., when he faces former title challenger Robert Frazier.
"Without the coverage that I have received on Showtime, I would not be where I am today," Powell said.
Frazier (31-6-4, 15 KOs) is not your typical "ShoBox" fighter. He is a seasoned veteran who once went the distance with Winky Wright in losing a fight for a vacant junior middleweight title.
"Powell is definitely a good fighter," Frazier said.
"He comes to bring the pain, but I am a veteran at this. I have been there and done that. I have fought the best of the best out there. Just look at my resume. I am just trying to make a statement, and, if nothing else, make my presence known."
Powell (18-0, 11 KOs), coming off a dominant decision against Archak Ter-Meliksetian in November, won the most memorable fight in "ShoBox" history when he knocked out Cornelius Bundrage in 22 seconds on May 6, 2005. At the opening bell, both fighters swung and connected for an ultra-rare double knockdown. The referee missed it, ruling it a slip, and as soon as both fighters were up, Powell landed his next punch, a straight left hand, and knocked out Bundrage.
Also on the Feb. 3 card: welterweight Andre Berto (9-0, 7 KOs), a 2004 Haitian Olympian, faces Jonathan Tubbs (7-0-1, 3 KOs) in an eight-rounder. Tubbs said he owns an amateur victory over Berto.
Quick hits: Trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., in the press room at the Wynn Las Vegas during the Morales-Pacquiao II promotion, told ESPN.com that he was headed to Puerto Rico to open camp with De La Hoya on March 1. Mayweather said that De La Hoya would train there, rather than his usual base in Big Bear, Calif., for his May 6 junior middleweight title challenge against Ricardo Mayorga. De La Hoya lives the bulk of his time in Puerto Rico, the home of his wife Millie, who recently gave birth to their son.
• Heavyweight titlist Chris Byrd and promoter King are close to settling their lawsuits against each other and going their separate ways, according to the New York Daily News. The settlement would pave the way for Byrd to defend his title against Wladimir Klitschko on HBO April 22 in Germany.
• Lightweight Almazbek "Kid Diamond" Raiymkulov (20-1-1, 12 KOs) is ready for his ring return. He was a rising contender when he was knocked out in an upset by Nate Campbell in October. Now, Raiymkulov is ready for a Feb. 18 comeback at the Aladdin in Las Vegas. He has dropped trainer Don House in favor of Miguel Diaz and will fight an eight-rounder against an opponent to be named on the untelevised portion of Top Rank's "Real Warriors" pay-per-view card headlined by welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito vs. Manuel Gomez. To get ready for the fight, Raiymkulov will spar with junior welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto in Puerto Rico. Also added to the undercard: junior middleweight and 2004 U.S. Olympian Vanes Martirosyan (6-0, 3 KOs).
• Renowned boxing writer Jack Fiske, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003, died Tuesday after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 88. Born Jacob Quincy Finkelstein on July 15, 1917, Fiske worked as a boxing reporter and columnist for various newspapers but became a giant of the industry in his 40-plus years as a writer at the San Francisco Chronicle. His twice-weekly column was considered one of the most important boxing columns in the world and was widely regarded as one of the most consistent sources of boxing information in the United States from 1947-1992. He is survived by a son and a daughter.
• Middleweight Ward (7-0, 4 KOs), who as mentioned earlier is being considered for the April 29 HBO "Boxing After Dark" season debut, returns to action Feb. 23 at the Tachi Palace Casino Hotel in Lemoore, Calif. The fight will mark the debut of promoter Goossen Tutor on the Mark Cuban-owned HDNet high-definition subscription service. "Now if I could only get Mark to put Andre into a [Dallas] Maverick uniform we could really parallel Roy's [Jones, Ward's co-promoter] footsteps," Dan Goossen joked. "In reality, this will be the first step in combining the talents and vision of Mark Cuban and Andre Ward with the growth prospects of HDNet." Also on the card: heavyweight prospect Travis Walker (14-0-1, 12 KOs).
• Hot prospects Delvin Rodriguez (17-1-1, 10 KOs), a welterweight, and junior welterweight Lamont Peterson (15-0, 7 KOs) will be featured on the Feb. 17 edition of "Friday Night Fights" (ESPN2) at the FedEx Forum in Memphis. Rodriguez faces Alex Division (16-2, 12 KOs) and Peterson faces Jose Moreno (12-1, 10 KOs). Also on the card are two more of Northeast Promotions' top prospects: junior welterweights Shamone Alvarez (12-0, 8 KOs) and Anthony Peterson (14-0, 10 KOs), Lamont's brother.
• Jason Estrada (5-0, 1 KO), the 2004 U.S. Olympic super heavyweight, is taking a step up Feb. 12 when he faces Yanqui Diaz (13-3, 8 KOs) in a six-rounder on ESPN's "The Contender Special: East Coast Pride" card at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, R.I. Diaz has faced far superior competition, including a first-round knockout victory against then undefeated (37-0) Juan Carlos Gomez, a decision triumph against two-time former title challenger Vaughn Bean, and a knockout loss to Samuel Peter. "I want to fight opponents who've established themselves in the heavyweight division and that's why I'm fighting a guy like Diaz in only my sixth fight," Estrada, 25, said. "I know fans want to see me fighting guys they've heard of and respect. Diaz has beaten Gomez and Vaughn, but I'm not worried about him at all. Sure, it's always a disadvantage fighting somebody with so much more pro experience, but I'm sure I saw a lot more different styles in the amateurs than he has in his entire boxing career."
Quotable: "I am mentally prepared for this fight. My work ethic is better, and my intensity is higher than it has been in the past. This is a big fight, and I want to use this fight and the ones after it to make a statement that I am the best fighter in the world." -- Former three-division champ Sugar Shane Mosley (41-4, 35 KOs), who is training to face Fernando Vargas in a junior middleweight showdown on Feb. 25 (HBO PPV) in Las Vegas.
Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.
