ATLANTIC CITY, NJ - Arturo Gatti gave another sellout crowd at Broadwalk Hall what it came for Saturday night, with his fifth-round knockout of Jesse James Leija.
This was Gatti's 17th fight in Atlantic City, including his last five, and sets up his biggest fight - a proposed June 11 showdown with 'pound for pound' great Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Gatti promised he would "kill" Leija, the 38-year-old veteran, and he did - in a boxing sense. This may have been Leija's final fight, at least in a championship bout.
There will be plenty more for Gatti, 38-6 (29 KOs), the WBC super lightweight champion. He again lived up to his reputation as the biggest non-heavyweight draw with a pair of crowd-pleasing knockdowns that made quick work of Leija.
For the first three rounds, Gatti and Leija stayed away from each other, with Gatti keeping Leija at bay with left jabs and an occasional right hand.
Leija started pressing Gatti in the fourth round, and that was a big mistake. Fifty seconds into the fifth round, Gatti dropped Leija with a straight right. It was the beginning of the end for the former featherweight and lightweight champion.
A groggy Leija, 47-7-2 beat referee Earl Brown's count, but Gatti put him away shortly afterward with a short left hook. As Leija tried to get up, Brown signaled the fight was over at 1:48 of the round.
Gatti earned $2 million for beating Leija and will receive double that and possibly more to fight Mayweather. Although Mayweather is undefeated and would be favored, Gatti is the gate attraction.
While Gatti has generated sellout crowds of 12,000 for his Atlantic City bouts, Mayweather has not been a box office success.
"He has to fight Arturo in Atlantic City," said a Gatti adviser. "When you draw 3,000 for your last fight, you have no bargaining power."
Gatti will have even more bargaining power if he beats Mayweather and the pay-per-view numbers are good. That would give him leverage in potential super bouts against Kostya Tszyu and Miguel Cotto.
Gatti's career has been on the upswing since he and trainer Buddy McGirt have been together. Gatti is 6-1 in two years under McGirt, who has convinced his fighter that he has to be more defensive- minded and should avoid brawling as much as possible.
"He wanted to extend his career and he knew the only way to do that was to change," McGirt said. "And he has."
Immediately after the cheers subsided, the talk returned to Mayweather. Gatti didn't mind addressing the matter.
"I don't understand why Mayweather didn't show up tonight. I do want to fight him," Gatti said. "I hope he can solve his legal problems. I want to fight him because he's the best pound-for-pound fighter."
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.
In other action, IBF junior middleweight champion Kassim Ouma used his superior boxing skills to register a unanimous decision over Kofi Jantuah.
The left-handed Ouma kept the hard-hitting Jantuah off-balanced throughout the fight en route to an easy 118-110, 116-112, 117-111 victory.
"I was faster than him, slicker than him," said Ouma, a Ugandan who upped his record to 21-1-1 (13 KOs) "I was surprised how easy it was. Bring on the next opponent. I'd like the winner of Felix Trinidad-Winky Wright."
Ouma won the majority of the early rounds with ring generalship. He slapped Jantuah repeatedly with right-left combinations that kept the challenger cautious. Jantuah threw several hard punches, many of which Ouma blocked with his gloves.
In the heavyweight division, Malik Scott proved he doesn't have to slug to be effective.
Scott used slick defense and an accurate jab to control heavyweight veteran David Bostice, 79-73, 79-73, 78-74.
Bostice was the toughest opponent Scott has faced in his professional career, which now stands at 21- 0-0 (10 KOs). Bostice fell to 33-9-1.
Frank Santiago
New Jersey Correspondent
Information from other publications and wire services was used in the compilation of this report.
