Gatti gives Damgaard his first loss
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Arturo Gatti defeated Thomas Damgaard with an 11th round TKO last night. The win keeps him on track to possibly face Carlos Baldomir, who recently became WBC welterweight champ by defeating Zab Judah. [My Baldomir post reports the cancellation of a Judah-Mayweather match-up, but the latest word has them fighting again.]
For Gatti, there was good news and bad news coming out of last night’s fight. The good news is he looked comfortable at 147. He also fought a smart fight, for the most part avoiding getting in too close where the Dane wanted him. When he did stray from the game plan — which included switching into southpaw stance periodically — Buddy McGirt was able to reel him in quickly.
The bad news is that Damgaard is not a great fighter. Don’t get me wrong, I think he lived up to his nickname Lovehjerte, and I was far more impressed with his skills than the HBO crew, who could barely pause their Gatti slobberfest long enough to begrudgingly give him some credit in the late rounds (the fact that he clearly won the 4th barely registered). However, the game Damgaard is no Mayweather, nor is he Carlos Baldomir.
The worst news for Gatti is that he once again hurt his chronically injured right hand. Granted, he was basically punching a rock in Damgaard’s head, and that he was able to win the bout with his right hand crippled for seven rounds is impressive to say the least, but it doesn’t bode well for his future. He admitted after the fight that he more or less re-injures it with every fight. Gatti’s reputation for toughness is well earned, but he’ll need both hands to beat Baldomir.
