Arturo Gatti vs Ray Mancini

Good point here ... Bramble had a great jab and just a bad style matchup for Mancini .. Boom retired at 24 and had so much more to give imo .. comes out of retirement after 4 years, no tune ups, and gives a prime undefeated Camacho a very close, tough SD loss for Boom .. Gatti would be a good fight

 

This is a good topic, and what a fight this would have been! Two blood and guts warriors who left it all in the ring, took on some of the best of their respective eras and had tremendous courage.

In any case, I think the quoted post sums it up. As someone who was a huge Gatti fan in his time, I wanted him to get that unlikely win over Mayweather, no matter what the likelihood of it was. Being a Gatti fan was never about cheering for the best of the best, although we all wanted him to beat the best. It was more about the struggle than the end result, the journey more than the destination, about a guy who could guarantee you had a spectacle every time you watched. At least, that's how I saw it, and still do see it.

 

Depends on which guy gets busted up badly. You could pretty much bet the ranch 3 of the 4 eyes in the bout would be badly cut or swollen. A pint of blood leaked out by both guys. But swelling might actually be worse than cuts.

Either one of these guys loses sight in 1 eye is a disaster due to their defense. They get hit clean with their vision perfect. But I do think Ray backs him up. Now Gatti might be the better fighter of the 2 while backing up, but it really is Ray that cannot afford to be the one backing up.

There were a ton of guys I wanted to see Mancini in with---Harry Arroyo. Kenny Bogner. Edwin Rosario. Jimmy Paul. Boza Edwards even. Or moving up and taking on the mad dog, Gene Hatcher.

 

Gatti was only world class at 130. The rest he was a limited, beatable guy .. Ray was much better and would beat him up ..

 

That's exactly it. Normally, I make fight predictions with my head and not with my heart but with Gatti that was impossible because I cared too much. I can't think of a fighter since him who I've emotionally invested in in the same way. I guess there's some of that with certain British fighters because of patriotism but even then, Gatti stands apart in my mind. And he created that, not the hype machine. You can't see a guy in the trenches and on the verge of losing on so many occasions battle back in the way he did and not be moved.

 

He can only be seen as overhyped if he's being judged as being a certain level of elite fighter, which he wasn't. But he was insanely exciting and gave so many memorable moments that it doesn't feel right to suggest it was hype as it was self-generated excitement.

 

Mancini is a level above Gatti.

 

I love both of them but Mancini is my pick.
Mancini is bigger and stronger man but they are very similar fighters, rugged sluggers with chin,heart,determination and power.

 

I’d favor Mancini but I think it would be a great fight

 

I think Mancini at his best could fight at a higher level, i mean he gave Alexis Arguello all he could handle. Could Gatti compete with Arguello ?

Don't get me wrong I love Gatti as a fighter, hes the ultimate real life Rocky. How can you not appreciate the excitement he gave us. But he lost to Manfredy, Robinson x2, at Lightweight. Hes not beating a prime Mancini at Lightweight.