Interviews
From the Gatti-Ward Corner Sofa trilogy
“It was something you will never forget. You know what I mean? It’s just something special, and what makes it even greater is the intensity of the crowd. And then Michael Buffer makes the announcement. You can’t really explain it.”
The saying “they don’t make them like that anymore” can certainly be applied to both Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward, both fighters who threw everything in the ring a combined 100 times, including three times against each other. James Lupton revisits the pair’s notable trilogy with Hall of Famer Buddy McGirt, who coached Gatti while working on the trilogy.
The fights between the two fighters will last forever, with many considering the first fight to be the best fight ever. However, as the pair headed to the ring, no one could have expected the action that was about to unfold.
McGirt recalls standing in the corner and realizing this fight was going to be special; “[Arturo] he hit Micky Ward with that combination and Micky slammed his glove and said, “Fuck.” And I said, “It’s going to be a long night.”
Perhaps the only thing more memorable than the fights themselves are the photos and memories of Arturo lying in a hospital bed and “The Irishman” Micky Ward next to him – an iconic moment captured, frozen in time.
The pair exchanged blows, giving them a bond that remained forceful until Gatti’s death.
“I think each fight brought them closer together, not only as fighters but also as friends. And the funniest thing is that he had his last fight and Micky was training him for that last fight. McGirt told proboxing-fans.com.
When I asked Buddy why he thought these fights were fan favorites, his answer was straightforward; “because there were two guys there who were really trying… I won’t say they killed each other, but just two guys who didn’t operate anything scientific, they just go to war.”
During these fights, Gatti was part of a gym that housed substantial names such as McGirt himself, Laila Ali and Vernon Forrest within its four walls, but Arturo was a reserved figure until he gained his trust.
“Well, he didn’t trust a lot of people, but if he trusted you and liked you, he was a great guy. He was energetic and worked very demanding.”
Arturo was a fighter who liked to get into a shootout sometimes, sometimes a little too often, in Ward’s case it was often a shootout. Intrigued by the opportunity to get inside the coach’s mind, I asked McGirt if the game plan was to fight fire with fire?
“Okay, okay. I wanted him to do the same thing he did in the second fight and just blow him away. But in the third fight he broke his arm, so we had to do something different.”
“And when he got knocked down, he got up and felt it, he had to get it back. So it was quite intense.”
I immediately took a shot at Buddy and counterattacked, remembering that Gatti also broke his arm in Ward’s second fight, to which McGirt blocked me and hit me with “yeah, but he didn’t say anything in the second fight. The third fight he had.”
So now the coach found himself in a hard situation, his player reported that he had lost one of his weapons, and his hand was only fully functional. What’s next?
“Honestly, when we talked about the second fight, he said the adrenaline was flowing so much that he didn’t think about the pain.
“So I thought if in a fight I could take his mind off the hand and the way the fight was going, the intensity of the fight, the adrenaline would start flowing and he would start using it. And he did.
“The key was not to ask about his arm again after he told me it was broken.”
While McGirt believes we will soon see more trilogies in boxing “because we have a lot of good teenage fighters now”, the 57-year-old admits we won’t see anyone like Gatti-Ward again.
Buddy continues by emphasizing the importance of rematches and trilogies, recalling three trilogy contests from the past; “You have to have it because every fight should be better than the last one.
“I mean the Ali-Frazier trilogy, the first fight was the most vital because Ali was coming back.
“In the second fight, both of them were not champions. Then there was the third fight which was supposed to be over the hill but in the third fight they both put it all on the line which in my opinion was better than the first two because of the intensity and determination they both showed in the fight. this third fight at Thrilla in Manila.
“We will never see anything like this, ever.
– Not Gatti-Ward, Tarver-Jones. These two and Thrilla in Manila – you will never see such intensity and determination in a fight. Because it was a 15-round match and they put it all on the line for 15 or 14 rounds.
To end the conversation with McGirt, I asked him why don’t we see more of these types of fights, what has changed in the last 20 years?
“I think the mindset is different. I think everything is different. These were two men, Ali-Frazier, who had something extra.
“They have champions and then you have some champions who have that extra something. They had this little extra, you know what I mean? I can’t explain it, but if you watch the fight, you’ll see it.”
Natasha Jonas unified the welterweight division by defeating Ivana Habazin by clear points on Saturday to add the WBC title to her IBF crown at the Exhibition Center in Liverpool.
Jonas (16-2-1, 9 KO) was last seen defending her title in January in a hard-fought split decision over Mikaela Mayer, while Habazin (23-6, 7 KO) won the vacant WBC welterweight title in her home country. time out, winning by wide points over Kinga Magyar.
After a technical opening round, Jonas settled into a steady rhythm before landing a powerful right hand in the fourth round that crushed Habazin.
There was a rivalry, but the home favorite was much better in the rallies and seemed to be losing round after round.
This situation lasted until the final bell, when Jonas became the winner by scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 99-92.
Price is closing in on Jonas’ match
Lauren Price definitely stayed on as a collision course with Jonas and easily defended her WBA and IBO welterweight titles after a third-round fight against Bexcy Mateus.
Mateus (7-1, 6 KO) was on board in the first round, after the Welshman landed a powerful left hand, and the Colombian struggled to match Price’s speed.
The same shot caused the 29-year-old to repeat the punch in the second round, and the round later ended when another stinging left hand stunned Meteus and she fell to the canvas, after which the fight was stopped.
Price (8-0, 2 KO) has agreed to face Jonas next, and promoter Ben Shalom revealed it could be announced next week.
Knife edge passes McKenna
Lee Cutler scored an upset victory to claim the silver WBC International welterweight title after winning a majority decision against Stephen McKenna.
McKenna (15-1, 14 KO) was eliminated in the first round, his knee touching the canvas after being tagged, and Cutler (15-1, 7 KO) took full advantage of his opponent’s weakness in the seventh round when his right hand plunged into his knee. The Irishman who ultimately fell once again.
McKenna was relentless in his attacks and landed a huge number of punches.
The balance of 94-94 was surpassed by the scores of 95-93 and 96-92, which ensured the victory for Cutler.
Jeffers stopped Quartey
Mark Jeffers is on track for large fights in 2025 after defeating Joshua Quartey to defend his silver Commonwealth super middleweight title.
A pair of right hands put Quartey (10-1, 9 KO) on the board, and although he broke the count, a well-placed body shot after the restart by Jeffers (19-0, 6 KO) blew the guy away again.
A crazy attack after the restart forced a stoppage.
Riley secures Chamberlain’s face-off with a stoppage
Viddal Riley finished the heavyweight fight and stopped Dan Garber in the second of the scheduled six rounds.
Riley (12-0, 7 KO) hit Garber (7-4, 2 KO) with his right hand, and then his next attack forced the referee’s intervention.
Riley’s next match will be against Isaac Chamberlain on February 1.
Undercard remaining
Mason Cartwright (21-4-1, 8 KO) won all six rounds at super welterweight against Dzmitry Atrokhau (16-25, 7 KO), and Hope lightweight Frankie Stringer (9-0, 1 KO) did the same in the fight against Tatenda Mangombe (3-9-1).
In the flyweight division, Mikie Tallon (6-0) defeated Benn Norman (7-7) with a body shot in the first round of the match, and then settled for a 59-54 victory.
The only fighter to fight four rounds in the super featherweight division was Mason Devine (6-0, 1 KO), who won every session against Jayo Fernando Duran (15-34-1, 14 KO).
Dillian Whyte has revealed his predictions for the hotly anticipated rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury on December 21.
Fury, who knocked out Whyte at Wembley Stadium in 2022, will seek revenge for the only defeat of his career in just 11 days, after losing to Usyk by split decision earlier this year.
Despite losing the night, “The Gypsy King” was a major success and many are struggling to pick a winner in his second battle against the imperious Ukrainian.
Some experts believe Fury needs to be more aggressive and take the lead if he is to win.
I’m talking to Social boxingWhyte revealed he shared that view, asking the Morecambe man to return to the game plan that saw him destroy Deontay Wilder in the return leg.
“It’s a great fight, man, I’m still trying to think – how will this fight go?
“Okay, Fury can make changes, but Usyk can make changes too. It’s a tough fight, a very, very tough fight for both fighters.
“If I were Fury’s coach, I would tell him he has to play aggressively.
“Fight him like you fought Wilder the second time.
“Bring back the aggression, bring back the tyrant!
“This is heavyweight boxing – you never know.”
It is unclear whether Fury will heed the advice of Whyte and others in the boxing world who have advised him to take the fight to Usyk, but looks noticeably heavier than before the first fight.
What are the changes? ❌@Tyson_Fury says he will exploit exactly the same game plan as the first time when he faces Oleksandr Usyk at the end of the month.
Thinks? 🧐 pic.twitter.com/VtpEwLJkWx
— Professional boxing fans (@ProBoxingFans) December 6, 2024
Win or lose, the 36-year-old could face a long-awaited home fight against Anthony Joshua, even though “A.J.” interrupted defeat against Daniel Dubois in September.
While it may not have been as great a spectacle as it once was, a clash between Joshua and Fury would still be by far the biggest all-British fight in recent memory.
As for Whyte, he returns to the ring next Sunday night and will face Ghanaian heavyweight Ebenezer Tetteh live on DAZN in Gibraltar.
The All-American fight between lightweight world champions Gervonta Davis and Shakur Stevenson is one of the most anticipated fights in all of boxing.
Both Davis and Stevenson are undefeated multi-weight champions and are staples on any respected pound-for-pound list.
With this in mind, you could be forgiven for assuming that the pair locking corners in their prime years is a given, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen in the near future.
“Tank” spoke to the media at the press conference inaugurating his performance March 1 fight with Lamont Roach, and when the prospect of fighting Stevenson arose, he didn’t seem particularly interested.
The Baltimore hitter even went so far as to question what his compatriot did to deserve him.
“What for? Who has Shakur [beat]? What did Shakur do?
“What has he achieved in sports? He didn’t do anything! Juvenile people look better than him!”
“Keyshawn [Davis] you look so much better than that nigga! Shout it out nigga, he ain’t done nothing!
I asked Gervonta about a possible fight with Shakur… #Box #TankRoach pic.twitter.com/T1eNFJ9iIO
— Dwa O Dwa Z.. (@Noo_Barzz) December 3, 2024
“Why the hell are you saying his name?”
Like Davis, Stevenson will also return to action in the first quarter of next year, fighting against up-and-comer Floyd Schofield on the February 22 Riyad season card.
The Newark southpaw has been sidelined since his July decision victory over Artem Harutyunyan after he had to withdraw from a proposed October fight with Joe Cordina due to injury.
Saudi boxing boss Turki Alalshikh has expressed his willingness to have a fight between the two virtuosos, provided both are successful in their upcoming fights.
‼️ His Excellency Turki Alalshikh stated that he wants the Gervonta Davis vs Shakur Stevenson fight: “My plan for Shakur is this fight [vs Floyd Schofield]then William Zepeda, and then let’s see if Tank wants to come on our show.” [@DAZNBoxing] pic.twitter.com/Mmi6hO7Fjo
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBenson) December 3, 2024
While he undoubtedly has the talent to rival Davis, Stevenson is not as commercial a star as his rival, and some critics believe he needs to start giving more entertaining performances if he wants to get substantial names.
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