Notebook: Manager says Gatti not retiring yet

Originally Published: August 18, 2006

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By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
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AROUND THE RING

Gatti goes on

Gatti was dropped by Carlos Baldomir July 22. (Ed Mulholland/WireImage.com)

Although Arturo Gatti said he was leaning toward retirement immediately following his one-sided ninth-round knockout loss to welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir on July 22, the human highlight film is having second thoughts. He probably will fight on, manager Pat Lynch told ESPN.com.

"He is definitely leaning toward fighting again," Lynch said. "He doesn't want to go out that way. He feels he still has something left. Every time he tries to bring it up, I tell him to take time off. I tell him he has his real estate deal going on up in Montreal. I tell him he has his baby daughter to watch grow up."

Gatti, a former two-division title holder, is on vacation in South America, visiting Argentina and Brazil, until Aug. 25. He is also immersed in a multimillion dollar construction project in his native Montreal, where he and a partner are building 84 condos.

However, Lynch said Gatti (40-8, 31 KOs) still hasn't gotten boxing out of his system.

"He just feels Baldomir was a big, strong guy and that he should have boxed more rather than engage him, and that his love is boxing," Lynch said. "He definitely wants to fight again. It's so hard when I think about it. Do I want to see him get hit again? No. If he came back and said he changed his mind, I would be the happiest guy in the world."

Lynch has managed Gatti, 34, since he turned pro in 1991 and counts him as a family member. Gatti was an usher at Lynch's wedding and is godfather to one of his three children.

"You don't want to walk away from him because he's a big part of the family," Lynch said. "You don't want anyone taking advantage of him, but you also don't want to sit there and see him take anymore punishment. It's a very difficult situation."

"I echo Pat's sentiments exactly," said Carl Moretti of Main Events, which has promoted Gatti for his entire career. "If he said, 'I am done,' we'll throw the retirement party. But I understand his competitiveness and his desire to go on."

Making it even tougher for Gatti to walk away is that, according to Lynch, Gatti's HBO contract has a provision calling for a seven-figure comeback bout.

"I don't even want to think about him fighting again," Lynch said.

Welterweight title bout for Cotto?

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum and Showtime are sorting though possible opponents for junior welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto and welterweight belt holder Antonio Margarito to face in their Dec. 2 doubleheader in Atlantic City, N.J.


	Cotto

Margarito, who will open the telecast, probably will face Joshua Clottey, Arum told ESPN.com. That's the easy part. Clottey was in Las Vegas for last week's Rahman-Maskaev heavyweight title fight and to meet with Arum, who said they are close to a deal.

Cotto's situation is a little more unclear. However, the Puerto Rican star is moving up to welterweight and it is possible that his debut at the weight could be a for a world title.

Should title holder Ricky Hatton drop back down to junior welterweight to challenge Juan Urango for his old belt -- Hatton's most likely move -- Hatton would vacate the 147-pound belt he won in May rather than face mandatory challenger Oktay Urkal of Germany.


	Margarito

Arum said Cotto could wind up facing Urkal for the vacant belt on the Showtime card. It would be contingent upon Carlos Quintana stepping aside to allow the fight.

Quintana's June 24 victory over Joel "Love Child" Julio put him in position to either challenge the winner of a Hatton-Urkal bout or to challenge for the vacant belt.

Ron Katz of Northeast Promotions, which promotes Quintana, said they are open to making a deal with Top Rank.

"We've been entertaining offers from different promoters, Top Rank included, about the possibility of making some sort of deal with regard to Quintana," Katz said. "If it was with Top Rank, we would have to figure out a short term plan for Quintana that would allow Cotto to fight Urkal for the vacant title. Anything is possible. We're open to the idea, but it depends on the nature of the deal."

Narvaez nixes unification fight

Gary Shaw, who promotes flyweight titlist Vic Darchinyan, has gone to great lengths to try to secure a significant fight for his exciting power puncher. He says he spent about $30,000 of his own money trying to finalize a unification bout between Darchinyan (26-0, 21 KOs) and Omar Narvaez, including an expensive recent trip to Narvaez's native Argentina to close the deal.


	Narvaez


	Darchinyan

Shaw thought he had one. He said the Narvaez camp told him the fight was on as long as Narvaez (22-0-2, 15 KOs) came through his mandatory defense against Rexon Flores on Aug. 5. Narvaez won a lopsided unanimous decision and Shaw thought he had wrapped up one of the most significant flyweight fights in years, one that would open his Oct. 7 Showtime card featuring the rubber match between lightweight world champ Diego Corrales against Joel Casamayor at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay.

Then Shaw said he received an e-mail from a Narvaez representative saying that there had been a change of plans and that Narvaez would instead stay in Argentina for a different fight in the fall. Shaw was livid.

"It makes no sense when you are champion and get a chance to unify," Shaw told ESPN.com. "That's what you should do and what is good for boxing. If not, you're looking to duck someone."

Shaw said the reason for his trip last month was to sit face to face with Narvaez's handlers to make a deal because communication was less personal and more difficult by telephone and e-mail.

"I wanted to show them how serious I was, and I wanted to go there personally and put my offer on the table," he said. "They were very receptive. They said they had a fight they needed to do, but they would sign a bout agreement after it was over, and we would do the unification fight. Then, after Narvaez won his fight, they came back to me and said, 'At this time, he doesn't want to take the fight. He has other opportunities, including a local fight.' It's very disappointing for me and for Vic. I thought I had a deal. I told Showtime I had a deal."

Shaw said he still hopes to line up a meaningful match for Darchinyan in the fall on Showtime, either on the Oct. 7 card or perhaps on Nov. 4.

If Darchinyan doesn't land a fight on Oct. 7, Shaw said he might put light heavyweight contender Chad Dawson in the co-feature.