Philadelphia’s Ivan Robinson is the only man to have ever beaten Arturo Gatti twice. Robinson, who decisioned “Thunder” in August of 1998, and again in December of the same year, fought numerous other big names and good fighters (Emanuel Augustus, Phillip Holiday, Angel Manfredy, Jesse James Leija, and a faded Julio Cesar Chavez) but it is the two ten round battles with Gatti that Robinson is most proud of.
Robinson, a former IBF lightweight title challenger when he fought Gatti, with “Mighty” having moved up to 140 for what were the two biggest fights of his career, says today that Gatti “made it personal” ahead of the first fight. Stung by Gatti’s suggestion that he couldn’t punch, Robinson, 25-2 at the time, trained harder than ever before, and when the fight began on the night of August 22 of ’98, he jumped right on Gatti, who was 29-2.
What really set Robinson off before that first Gatti fight?
The fight, won by Robinson via split decision, was action-packed, and 53 year old Robinson was recently kind enough to recall it when speaking with me:
“There was a whole lot that lead up to that fight. First of all, Gatti picked me for the fight, and for that I’m grateful, but they really didn’t expect me to win, Main Events. Of course I was the better boxer out of us both, and he was the better slugger and the better puncher. Prior to the fight, in camp, I was getting ready to box, box, box. But at the press conference in New York, Gatti said he was gonna beat me, he was gonna knock me out. He also said that ‘you can’t bring knives to a gunfight.’ I asked my friend what Gatti meant. My friend, he told me that Gatti meant I couldn’t punch hard, that I wasn’t gonna knock him out, I was only gonna cut him up maybe, and that he was gonna knock me out. That stuck with me the last two-and-a-half weeks of camp. All I wanted to do was put my hands on Gatti and beat him up. That’s why I changed tactics.”
Q: You fought angry?
“Yeah, I was still mad. I was in the dressing room, and that’s the best I ever warmed up for any fight. HBO walked me out, and I told my team I was going out to knock Gatti out. I said I wasn’t going to box, I was going to knock him out! My team were like, “No!” I ran to the ring and I wanted to punish him. I threw something like 112 punches that first round. Me and Gatti were friends, we both worked Pernell Whitaker’s camp as he got ready for Oscar De La Hoya. But the night of the fight, I wanted to punish him. And I did. Everybody knew I was a great fighter, but the Gatti fight was gonna either make me or break me. I knew Gatti couldn’t beat me. I did make the fight closer than it could have been, and I made it exciting.”
That tenth round — did it change everything?
Q: Were you ever hurt in the fight?
“Well, I’m a throwback fighter. I loved being in a fight like that with Gatti! I never let any of his shots get to me. That’s why I fought him again a second time. Really, the first fight, I never really got hit – I was doing all the punching. He did catch me with a great shot in the tenth round, a punch I will remember until I pass away. The knockdown (in round four) was me just getting caught by a fast punch, but I was fine. As for the second fight, that was what the first fight should have been [with me boxing him]. At the end of the day, I’m proud that I gave you a fight that you still remember and will always remember, which was the first fight. The second fight, I really beat him easy and that’s when I began making some good money. I tell you, they really begged me to take that second fight. I took it because I already knew I’d beat him. I went right back to the gym on Monday [after the first fight.]”
Q: The 10th round of the first fight, were you badly stunned or were you playing possum some?
“(laughs). I was in great shape. I knew I had to be at my best and I was. I was on the world stage and that was my big chance to show the world who I was. Everybody already knew who Arturo Gatti was. Anything that came my way, I was willing to take it if I had to. Gatti was one of the hardest fights I ever had, but Emanuel Augustus was something terrible, or something special.”
Q: What is it that makes you guys from Philadelphia so tough?
“Well, that’s what we’re made of. It’s a God-given gift. Plus, I lived the life. I never gained much weight between fights, my dad didn’t play that way. I was never more than five pounds above my fighting weight. I trained ever day apart from Sundays. I lived near Meldrick Taylor, we both had fast hands (laughs). When I train fighters today, the first thing they ask me, is, ‘how can I get fast hands like you?’ I tell them, you have to be gifted. That’s what it is, a gift. It’s not something people are born with every day. But getting back to Gatti, he was my brother and I love him. I’m so grateful for him for giving me the first fight, and I paid him back by giving him the second fight. And Like I say, I’m so proud that I gave you guys something to remember. I’m proud and I’m grateful. If you had asked me back in the day, I’d have said I’d never fight Gatti, for two reasons – one, he was my brother, and two, he could never beat me. But he got what he asked for.”
