Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward | Like watching “Rocky”

Exactly 20 years ago, Quebecer Arturo Gatti and American Micky Ward faced off in the first of three duels that will form an anthology trilogy. From this initial face-to-face, the ninth round is one of the most legendary in the history of boxing. Today, would it be completed without being interrupted by the referee? Opinions differ. And are very nuanced.

“Stop it, Frank. You can stop it anytime. »

There are about thirty seconds left in the ninth round. Gatti, in the cables, is manhandled by Ward. On the HBO network, this comment from famous reporter Jim Lampley to referee Frank Cappuccino sounds like a request. Even a plea.

“It’s the only time I’ve heard an analyst tell the referee to stop the fight,” said coach Russ Anber.

But the third man in the ring, after separating them, lets the two opponents resume the action.

“And it resulted in one of the most violent and spectacular rounds in boxing history,” continues Anber.

Arturo Gatti weathers the storm before losing by majority decision. That’s not what history remembered, but the fight would have ended in a draw, had it not been for the point lost by Gatti in the fourth round for a blow below the belt.

In an interview ten years later, the referee, then retired, would drop this sentence, both full of humor and revealing of his state of mind in the arena: “I would have been killed if I stopped this fight! »

Not literally, of course. But, figuratively, isn’t there a kernel of truth in this quip?

“Yes, at that time the referees took a lot into account the ability of the boxer. They wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, reacts promoter Yvon Michel, president of GYM. In the case of Arturo Gatti, everyone knew he came back from the grave every time. »

In boxing, perhaps the sport that best suits the dramatic potential of the silver screen, reality never outweighs fiction. But this ninth round between Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward is one of the closest things to it.

“It was like a script written by Sylvester Stallone,” says Russ Anber.

Stop or again?

Sport in general, and for different reasons, aspires to greater safety for its participants. Consider the studies and tests on better protection offered by equipment, helmets in particular, in contact sports such as football and hockey.

And combat sports particularly expose their athletes to danger. No one denies it. It is the nature of the beast.

So, with hindsight, 20 years later, should this round between Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward have been stopped by the referee? Would it be today? Yvon Michel is categorical.

“We’ll never see that again,” he said. We are less tolerant now, we intervene much more quickly. »

“Even back then, there were fights that were stopped for much less than that,” Russ Anber points out.

Except that the initiative changed constantly, and very quickly, during this round. Yvon Michel points this out himself during the interview. Difficult for the official to interrupt a fight in these circumstances, right?

Combat, he says in passing, which came very close to being held in Montreal, until the Mohegan Sun casino, in Connecticut, showed up in extremis with lots of money.

Antonin Décarie, ex-boxer, now general manager of Eye of the Tiger Management, remembers that he was in Europe on May 18, 2002. He was taking part in a competition with the national team and had not missed the broadcast of the event, despite the time difference.

“Arturo Gatti was our idol. We were freaking out on him, ”he drops.

Décarie remembers this famous ninth round very well. And his point of view differs from that of Yvon Michel. He “didn’t think” the round would be stopped these days.

“Yes, it’s violent, it doesn’t make sense,” he admits. But it’s so competitive. When it’s a one-sided fight, the referee will be inclined to stop it. But there guys keep coming back, even when they’re in trouble. In the shoes of the referee, I would have been really uncomfortable to stop that. »

Boxer David Lemieux (43-4, 36 KOs) – who will face David Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs) for the interim WBC super middleweight title on Saturday – also wanted great admiration to Arturo Gatti.

Sometimes fights are interrupted too hastily, he says. Other times it’s the other way around. And in this case?

“That’s a good question,” he reflected, on the sidelines of a public training session a few weeks ago.

The referee becomes a key player in such spectacular and tough fights.

“He has a boxer’s life in his hands and his decision can be crucial. I would not have liked to be in his position. But two warriors like Gatti and Ward, crime, don’t stop this fight, continues Lemieux smiling. The fights they gave us, these guys, it’s going to be known for ages. »

At the same time, his coach, Marc Ramsay, argued that a host of factors are part of the equation. “There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle,” he says.

The referee’s experience level. His judgment. The balance of the fight, the fact that the boxers share the rounds, or not. Their caliber. Also, the pressure that the official may feel in the context of a major event.

“If it was a fight between two strangers, the same intensity, he would probably be stopped,” Ramsay believes.

And then there is the general context. He cites as an example another fight of Arturo Gatti, in September 2000, at the Molson Center, against Joe Hutchinson, during which the crowd favorite had been severely cut in the left eye from the second assault.

“Anywhere in the world, it would have been stopped, judge Marc Ramsay. But the doctor had decided to let it go. There would have been a riot. »

That said, Russ Anber points out, Arturo Gatti was winning the fight. And ending it would have caused his defeat…

A host of factors, it was said.

A referee’s opinion

Montreal umpire Michael Griffin is one of the most respected in the profession. In 25 years, he worked in 378 professional fights.

It was he who was at work that evening in September 2000, in Montreal. It was also he who acted as the third man when Adonis Stevenson almost lost his life in the ring in December 2018. An event that had deeply shaken him.

Like what, in this profession where the first responsibility is to protect the boxers, even the best cannot control everything. Even less foresee the consequences.

In return, Tony Bellew told him that he had saved his life by intervening before Stevenson dealt him another blow in 2013.

Before discussing the Gatti-Ward round on Monday, Michael Griffin watched it again the previous weekend. He saw it several times. He was asked the same question as the other speakers. Would this round reach three minutes in 2022? Who better than a reputable professional referee to judge?

He will say during the interview “walking a tightrope”. Because it is shared. But, first, his initial reaction.

“I don’t think Frank Cappuccino made a mistake. According to my judgement, there was not a clear moment when it was necessary to stop the fight”, he observes.

However, throughout this confrontation, even in this epic round where the belligerents were exhausted, both kept trying. At times, you had to be very careful, he says, however.

“With about 30 seconds left in the round, it is true that the fight could have been stopped in favor of Micky Ward”, admits Michael Griffin.

But he will also say that “there were times when it wouldn’t have been outrageous to stop to protect Ward”.

Comments that illustrate the fact that the ascendant was constantly passing from one camp to another.

To support his argument, Griffin takes as an example his most recent evening at work, last April 30: the duel between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, with the challenge of the four major belts at lightweight.

The fifth round was very dangerous for Taylor, and the Quebecer came close to ending the fight.

“I was one punch away from stopping him, but I needed that decisive blow to say it was over,” explained the referee.

Katie Taylor ultimately won by split decision.

Michael Griffin doesn’t know what he would have done in Frank Cappuccino’s shoes.

“When I make a move to stop a fight, I’m not even aware that I’ve decided to stop it. It’s something you see in the moment,” he says.

In the gaze, the hands that no longer react. Signs which must spontaneously hold the official’s attention, even if the boxer is still on his feet.

We said earlier that Michael Griffin felt on a tightrope about the round that is the subject of this text. Because he doesn’t believe his colleague was wrong at the time.

“But I think it would be stopped today by the majority of the referees, perhaps including myself. The atmosphere has changed. I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to see a fight like Ward-Gatti again. »

Arturo Gatti would win the next two clashes by unanimous decision, showing his superiority over Micky Ward.

If, in boxing, reality never exceeds fiction, it sometimes joins it. Like this scene where the two adversaries meet in the hospital after their last duel.

The reaction of Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward, could not be more serene and respectful, is the opposite of that of Apollo Creed.

But, on this one, the best of the two scenarios is not that of Stallone.

With the collaboration of Jean-François Téotonio, The Press