As to Gatti's boxing legacy, he was the most consistently exciting fighter I've ever seen. Unlike a lot of brawlers, Gatti had an aesthetically attractive style. He threw nice combinations, had a sweet left hook, and almost never clinched. Watch Ricky Hatton after a Gatti fight for an illustration of the latter's singularity. He probably could have won some of the fights that he lost had he adopted a more cautious style, but he correctly realized that more than any sport, boxing isn't just about winning, it's about entertaining. I write this with one eye on the rather boring opening rounds of the DeMarco-Adjaho fight, presently in the midst of an extended feeling-out process of the sort that never lasted more than ten seconds or so in a Gatti fight. I think that is the highest tribute a fight fan could pay him.
Let's have another look at the famous round 9 of Ward-Gatti I. The finale of Corrales-Castillo is the only comparable frame I've ever seen.
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