GATTI vs LEIJA

Arturo Gatti vs Jesse James Leija
WBC Light Welterweight Championship
Kassim Ouma vs Kofi Jantuah
IBF Super Welterweight Championship
Saturday; January 29, 2005
Distributed by Canadastar Boxing Inc.
To Canadian Commercial Locations
On Closed Circuit-Pay Per View

THE BOUT

One of the more popular fighters in the sport today, Light Welterweight Champion, Arturo Gatti, will defend his title against battle-tested veteran and former champion, Jesse James Leija. In the co-feature, Super Welterweight Titleholder, Kassim Ouma, will defend his crown against the talented, highly ranked contender, Kofi Jantuah. The championship double-header is presented by Main Events and will be broadcast on HBO World Championship Boxing.

Due primarily to the unrelenting determination and blue-collar grit he displays in the ring, Arturo Gatti, 38-6 (29 KOs), has emerged as one of the sport's most endearing figures. In a professional career spanning 14 years, "Thunder" Gatti, now 32, has faced some of the best fighters within that span, including Oscar De La Hoya, Gabriel Ruelas and Angel Manfredy.

It was his co-starring role in the epic Gatti-Ward trilogy, however, that elevated him to the level of fan favourite and broadly- recognized blood and guts champion of the world. After splitting their first wo battles, in which both fighters suffered knockdowns and endured round after bloody round of vicious, bone-rattling exchanges, Gatti and "Irish Micky Ward met for a third epic battle. Despite being knocked down in the 6th round, Gatti persevered, keeping the fight close until an errant body shot found Ward's hip, fracturing Gatti's right hand. Fazed only momentarily, Gatti fought on and by emphasizing his jab, suoerior boxing skills, and by launching an occasional courageous right hand, and he earned a unanimous decision victory over Ward. With it, Gatti earned a greater fan following and Ring Magazine - "Fight of the Year" honors for the fourth time in his career.

Arturo followed up Gatti-Ward III with a unanimous decision victory over a talented and undefeated, Gianluca Branco. Most recently, Gatti faced off against former light welterweight champion, Leonard Dorin (also undefeated), who had himself recently participated in an exciting and exacting "fight of the year" candidate against Paul Spadafora. Gatti needed only 5 minutes, however, to dispose of the sturdy Dorin, earning him his 29th knockout in 44 fights. Should Gatti earn a victory on January 29th, his sights would be clearly set on a showdown with world-class lightweight king, Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

In Jesse James Leija, 47-6-2 (19 KOs), however, Gatti faces a 16-year ring veteran and former Super Featherweight Titleholder with unrivaled ring experience that includes his own epic trilogy of fights against Azumah Nelson as well as championship fights against Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Gabriel Ruelas and Kostya Tszyu. Since suffering a technical loss (due to a suspected broken eardrum) to undisputed light welterweight champ, Kostya Tszyu in 2003, Leija has earned four consecutive victories. In his most recent, Leija faced emerging prospect, Francisco Bojado, where despite suffering a 2nd-round knockdown at the hands of the talented young prospect, Leija regrouped to outbox Bojado for the remainder of the fight and earn a quality victory. Though Leija has remained in the championship mix for the better part of a decade, a victory over Gatti would represent for the 38-year old, his greatest victory and would earn him his first major title in ten years.

The co-feature will showcase Kassim "The Dream" Ouma 20-1-1 (13 KOs), a 26-year old Uganda-born fighter who, in October 2004, captured his first super welterweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over champion, Verno Phillips. With his aggressive, crowd-pleasing style, throwing punches in bunches and fighting at a breakneck pace, this southpaw has quickly risen from the ranks of sparring partner for the likes of Zab Judah to World Champion. In 2002, after being shot in the abdomen during a drive-by shooting, Ouma returned to his training only three months after undergoing successful surgery and, in his return bout, won a decision over former 154-pound champion, Angel Hernandez. Four months later, in a championship elimination bout, Ouma completely dominated J.C. Candelo before knocking him out in the 10th round. A victory for Ouma on January 29 would solidify his place among the best super welterweights in the world and position him for a possible unification bout with Winky Wright.

Facing Ouma in the ring will be Kofi Jantuah, 28-1 (18 KOs), a skilled contender poised to propel himself into the super welterweight mix. Along with exceptional skills that include accurate combination punching, effective bodywork and exceptional conditioning, Jantuah, age 30, brings to the ring 11 years of professional experience against top opposition. Since suffering the sole loss of his career in 2001, Jantuah has delivered 7 consecutive victories, all by knockout. Most recently, Jantuah fell Marco Antonio Rubio, an exceptional super welterweight contender, only 33 seconds into the first round. A victory over Ouma on January 29th could insert Jantuah in Ouma's spot among the top five super welterweights in the world.