Arturo Gatti puts off retirement with win

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. --Shaken by his loss to Floyd Mayweather, Arturo Gatti had plenty to prove in his return to the welterweight ranks -- and plenty to overcome. He came through on both counts Saturday, stopping previously unbeaten Thomas Damgaard to run his record to 40-7 and stave off a defeat he said would have driven him into retirement.

"I needed it and my fans needed it," said Gatti, 33, of Hoboken, N.J. "Tonight was an important win for me, for my fans to see I'm back and I'm not done yet."

Gatti, who was overpowered by Mayweather in a 140-pound championship here last June, decided to call it quits if Damgaard won.

Now, he's hoping for a shot at WBC welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir, who surprised Zab Judah earlier this month.

"Baldomir is perfect opportunity. We're going to fight in July, hopefully," Gatti said.

Gatti, who has avoided the toe-to-toe brawls that once defined him since hiring Buddy McGirt as his trainer, took McGirt's advice again Saturday and it paid off.

Damgaard, a powerful left-hander with a straight-ahead style, tried to draw Gatti into trading punches. But Gatti moved around the ring, switching in and out of a left-handed stance that allowed him to fire off quick left leads that caught the slower Damgaard (37-1) unprepared.

As usual, he had a big partisan crowd behind him, with 11,568 fans in Boardwalk Hall cheering whenever he tagged the hard-hitting 34-year-old from Morkov, Denmark.

"It was difficult to have 12,000 people against me," said Damgaard, who had never fought outside Denmark before. "I never had it before."

Gatti hurt his right hand punching Damgaard in the fourth, but insisted after the fight that his southpaw switching was a matter of strategy, not because his right hand hurt.

He also struggled with a rib injury suffered in training, which he kept a secret going into the fight, he said.

"I was going to win that fight, no matter what. A few bruises here and there wouldn't stop me from winning a fight," he said.

Trailing on all three judges' cards, a bloodied Damgaard could only hope for a knockout as he flailed away at Gatti in the 11th. But Gatti nailed him with a hard right to the face and his legs went wobbly. Referee Lindsey Page Jr. jumped in, stopping it at 2:54 of the 11th.

"I thought he was shot after Mayweather, but I was wrong," Damgaard said.