Wayne McCullough pays tribute to his friend, the late Arturo Gatti, who he shared a ring with back in 1988.
Gatti's a warrior who fought for the fans, says Wayne
Arturo 'Thunder' Gatti - what a fighter!
I first met Gatti back in June 1988 when we were representing our respective countries in an Ireland v Canada international tournament in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Gatti was 16 and I was 17. It was only my third match as an international but we were both fighting at senior level. This level of competition showed how talented he was because technically, he was too young for this division.
I won by first-round stoppage - which was a surprise to the Canadian team - but even though I gave him two standing eight counts, he never gave up. His corner threw in the towel proving early on in his career what a warrior he was. We exchanged fight vests out of respect for each other.
A few days later, Gatti fought again, this time in Belfast against another Irish kid and he won by KO. I knew, even as a young man, that he could go on and become a world champion.
Remember
We didn't meet again for a long time. He turned pro in the States and had seven paid fights before I made my debut in the US. By that time he was much bigger in build, but not in height, than me. He began his pro career as a featherweight whereas I started at bantamweight.
The next time I met him was in April 2000 when he fought on the undercard of a Lennox Lewis fight. He came up behind me in the hotel lobby, tapped me on the shoulder and said: "Do you remember me?" to which I replied: "I couldn't forget you!"
We had a mutual respect for each other.
Although Gatti lost his seventh pro fight he was still only 20 years of age and went on to win 23 fights straight. He picked up the IBF super-featherweight belt by defeating Tracy Harris Paterson in December 1995 and defended that belt three times. In each of those fights he was dropped or hurt but went on to pick up the win.
Then came back-to-back losses to Ivan Robinson - the first was deemed Upset of the Year and Fight of the Year - most people said that was it for Gatti. But instead of giving up he moved up in weight to light-welterweight, fought twice and then moved up in weight again and fought twice before facing the 'Golden Boy'' Oscar de la Hoya.
Toughness
He was stopped inside five rounds after being dropped during the fight but instead of quitting, his corner saved him and stopped the fight.
Gatti's reputation was his toughness. But excitement is the word that should be used to describe him back then. He got dropped, got up, got hurt and always fought back, sometimes with a swollen face.
Ten months after his defeat to de la Hoya, he was back with another win under his belt and so it began again.
Then came his trilogy with Micky Ward. For me and millions watching around the world, these were Gatti's greatest fighting moments.
The first fight, in May 2002, and the third fight, in June 2003 were both named Fight of the Year. Ward won number one and Gatti took both number two and three.
All of the fights went the distance and instead of watching a boxing bout, you almost felt as though you were watching a well-executed scene from a Hollywood movie. There was blood everywhere, there were knockdowns. Both Gatti and Ward showed how grueling this sport can be.
Gatti typically took a lot of shots but these fights had to have taken something away from each fighter. They were tremendous.
Retired
Gatti did go on to win another belt and then stepped up once more to fight but lost to pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jnr. His last two fights were losses to Carlos Baldomir and Contender star Alfonso Gomez. Gatti retired in 2007 following his last defeat.
Gatti may have had demons in his personal life but I want to remember him for his boxing career, not only as a fighter but also as a two-weight world champion.
The Ward fights will never be forgotten. He gave everything he had in the fights. He may not have had the best boxing skills but he had guts, determination and the desire to win.
Gatti became a legitimate world champion which not many fighters can do and he always put bums on seats. He fought for the fans and gave more back than you could imagine anyone's body being able to possibly do.
When I fight I always put a KJV bible verse on my shorts and in this instance I think it's very appropriate:
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.
Arturo Gatti, I was honoured to have shared a ring with you. I'll miss you...
