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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Arturo Gatti didn’t need a cutman, 12,599 rabid fans rooting for him or a late rally to win. This time, it was easy.
Gatti, the WBC’s 140-pound champion, easily dispatched 38-year-old “Jesse” James Leija on Saturday, scoring a fifth-round knockout and avoiding the kind of toe-to-toe thrillers that have characterized his career.
“The warrior is inside of me,” the 32-year-old Gatti said afterward. “If I need to bring it out.”
He didn’t, any more than he needed cutman Joe Souza, who defected to longtime friend Leija’s corner for this fight.
Leija, of San Antonio, had hoped to use Gatti’s punch-trading style to his advantage. Instead, he found himself on defense from the moment he entered sold-out Boardwalk Hall, where the pro-Gatti crowd booed him.
Gatti (39-6) was the aggressor and he wouldn’t let Leija get close enough to do any damage through the first four rounds. With a steady procession of jabs and some effective right hands when Leija advanced, Gatti was in control throughout.
In the fifth, he landed a hard overhand right on a retreating Leija, knocking him down. Leija (47-7-2) narrowly beat referee Earl Brown’s 10-count and got to his feet just as Brown got to 10.
Gatti teed off on him after that, finally dropping Leija for good with a left hand to the ear that toppled the former 130-pound champion. Leija managed to get to his knees, but the referee called an end to the fight at 1:48 of the fifth.
The fight set up a possible June bout with unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr., that would be the richest of Gatti’s career.
“I want to fight him and I hope he solves his legal problems,” he said of Mayweather. “I wait around forever to fight him.”
An arrest warrant was issued for Mayweather last month after he failed to attend his trial for kicking a bouncer at a bar. He’s charged with misdemeanor assault.
Gatti, whose face-first style and famous toughness have helped him win a loyal following, didn’t have to reach deep against Leija. He was never in trouble and wasn’t cut, as he often is because of his all-offense style.
At the start of the fifth, he attacked quickly after the opening bell, landing a left, another left and then a right to Leija’s head, setting the tempo for what was to come.
Once he knocked Leija down, it was just a matter of time. With Leija clearly dazed, Gatti backed him into the ropes and unloaded five punches in a row with no return fire from Leija. Moments later, he caught the reeling Leija with the left hand that finished him.
“I never thought he’d get up after the right hand,” said Gatti, who won the WBC crown a year ago in the same arena.
Gatti, who made $2 million for the second defense of his WBC title to Leija’s $700,000, said he worked on his right during training, hoping to use it against Leija.
He used it plenty, along with a left jab that stung Leija repeatedly.
“He’s crafty and I expected the way to beat him was to use the jab,” Gatti said. “I stayed on the outside because of his experience. I wanted to stay on the outside. Once I started landing the right hand, that made the difference.”
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