Our second radomly-selected Ring Magazine Fight of the Year (1970-2021) is one that is held in VERY high esteem by many analysts --- the first meeting between "Irish" Mickey Ward versus "Thunder" Arturo Gatti. One was generally a second-tier fighter at best, with only one win against anyone of consequence on his record, while the other was a promising lightweight who had seemingly hit his ceiling.
While both are fighters with flaws, the matchup itself turned out to be much greater than the sum of its parts. Both fighters fall into the "slobberknocker" category, willing to stand toe-to-toe and exchange with only a cursory observation of defensive strategy, so the matchup comes of as a slightly more skilled version of a toughman fight at the lightweight level. But the result was so electric the pair would fight three times over a 13-month period, with one of the two retiring from boxing at the end of the trilogy.
So given all the accolades for this fight, how to Butch and Rob think about it? Give us a listen and see for yourselves, and find out if you agree or disagree with our round-by-round analysis.
