Gatti Is Proof That Looks Are Deceiving

NEW YORK — Arturo Gatti’s face marks easily and he often looks like a loser.

A loser, however, is what Gatti has been only once in a 27-fight pro career, although Tracy Patterson thinks Gatti lost twice.

“I thought I won the first fight,” Patterson said of the bout in which he lost the IBF junior lightweight title to Gatti on a close but unanimous decision Dec. 15 in Madison Square Garden.

“I guess I could have thrown a few more punches, but I didn’t feel I needed to,” said Patterson, 32, who promises a faster start in the rematch Feb. 22 in the Atlantic City Convention Center in New Jersey.

“[Gatti] is a tough kid, no question about it,” said Patterson (57-4-1, 40 knockouts). “He doesn’t have many weakness, but he swells up pretty easily.”

“High cheek bones,” Gatti said of why his face marks so badly.

Whatever the reason--and the main reason would seem to be his give-and-take style--Gatti’s face was a mass of bruises and cuts and his left eye was closed by the end the first fight.

Gatti’s eyes were nearly shut in the second round of his only title defense, a sixth-round knockout over Wilson Rodriguez on March 23 at Madison Square Garden’s Theater.