Baldomir decks Gatti to retain belt

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Carlos Baldomir beat Arturo Gatti at his own game, and may have ended the popular fighter’s career.

Criticized for not having the punching power to handle Gatti’s street-brawling style, Baldomir tattooed him with a steady stream of punches that culminated in a ninth-round knockout Saturday night in Baldomir’s first defense of his WBC welterweight title.

The Argentine journeyman silenced a sellout crowd that had come to see Gatti, one of Atlantic City’s most popular fighters, but the Jersey City resident was outclassed from the start.

Afterward, Gatti (40-8) didn’t take questions from reporters but said, “I don’t know if I’m ever going to fight again. I had a good time doing it.”

Gatti had said in January that he would have retired if he had lost to unbeaten Dane Thomas Damgaard. But his performance in beating Damgaard and his desire to win a belt in a third weight class – he won the IBF junior lightweight title in 1995 and the WBC junior welterweight belt two years ago – changed his mind.

It wasn’t enough against Baldomir (43-9-6), who was fighting for the first time since stunning Zab Judah on Jan. 7 to win the WBC belt. He pummeled Gatti through the first five rounds and sent him to the canvas twice in the final round after hemming him in on the ropes and savaging him with a flurry of punches.

By midway through the fight, Gatti had cuts on his lip and under his right eye, and by the middle of the fifth round, appeared dazed.

“I tried to box him,” Gatti said. “He’s just very strong.”