HBO seems to be in a very giving mood this New Year, as they treated fans to yet another marvelous night of boxing last Saturday. This time it would be boxing's human highlight reel, Arturo Gatti, testing the waters at welterweight for the second time in his career, as he moved up to face undefeated Thomas Damgaard (37-0) of Denmark. The fight took place in none other than New Jersey, at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Despite the humiliating beating that was laid upon him by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in his last bout, Gatti was still able to draw nearly 11,000 fans to see him fight this relative unknown.

There was definitely value in a 'Damgaard to Win' bet. Despite being the naturally bigger man and undefeated, Damgaard was nearly a 4-1 underdog going into the fight. Not to mention Gatti's known history with that dreadful right hand of his. I fell into it myself. The fight had all the makings of an upset, but how quickly we forget that Gatti's career has multiple lives.

The first three rounds were controlled behind Gatti's strong jab and continuous work rate to the body. It wasn't until the fourth round that Gatti would find himself in a bit of trouble. After unloading an array of punches in the first half of the round, Gatti seemed to fatigue a bit and allowed Damgaard to come forward and land a series of short hooks inside to close the round strong. Gatti came out for the fifth on his toes and pumping the jab, trying to play it safe and quell the Dane's momentum from the previous round. Both men went to war with about a minute remaining, Damgaard landing his left hook inside, but Gatti clearly took the round, landing the much more punishing blows.

From round six on, Gatti clearly won every round (even after hurting his right hand in the 7th) en route to a spectacular 11th round TKO of the previously undefeated Damgaard. Although a few of the later rounds were relatively competitive, Damgaard was clearly slowed by Gatti's consistent body attack and sheer overwhelming power. Both men were landing their punches, it was just Gatti who had the power to move his opponent back. Gatti improves to 40-7 (31 KO's), while Damgaard falls to 37-1 (27 KO's).

With the win, Arturo Gatti has again positioned himself to challenge for the WBC's 147 lb title, which is currently held by Argentina's Carlos Baldomir. If not Baldomir, look for possible fights with England's Ricky Hatton or former Undisputed champion Kostya Tszyu.

In other Boxing news from over the weekend: British teenage phenom, Amir Kahn continued his meteoric rise with a spectacular, 85-second first-round knockout of Belarusian import Vitali Martynov (10-1). Kahn, who won the silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games at only age 18, has gone 5-0 since turning pro in August 2005.

The legendary Tommy Hearns, who made what some would call a "successful" comeback five months ago, has announced the opponent for his upcoming fight February 4th at The Palace in Auburn Hills. The opponent will be Indiana's Shannon Landberg (58-10-3). Last I checked, Landberg was 42, a middleweight, and hadn't fought in three years. Hearns is 47, a cruiserweight, and shouldn't have fought at all in last decade and half. There's absolutely no reason for this fight to be taking place. These 40 yr old guys should be home mowing the lawn this Saturday, not beating the what remains out of each other.

Doc's will be analyzing the upcoming lightweight match between Jose Luis Castillo and Rolando Reyes. What was originally supposed to be the third installment to 2005's Fight of the Year between Diego Corrales and Jose Castillo, it was Corrales who had to pull out with a rib injury almost a month back and Ronaldo Reyes was rounded up as a late replacement. Although it looks like the makings of a mismatch, not much is known yet of Reyes and nothing is ever guaranteed in boxing. The fight takes place February 4th on Showtime.

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