No. Ali almost playfully toyed with Williams before he knocked him out. He was enjoying himself and was in total control at all times during that fight, virtually from the start. It was well within his discretion when to finally end Williams' misery, as he pleased or saw fit. Many boxing experts and historians consider the Ali-Williams fight as the apex of Ali's prime, at least in his first coming. It was in that fight that the full potentials of Ali as a fighter and heavyweight champion were fully unraveled and the boxing world could only watch in awe.

In contrast, in the opening rounds, Floyd was cautious and constantly wary of Gatti's power and capacity to turn the fight around by exploiting the opponent's mistake or carelessness with a well placed blow. Floyd's demolition of Gatti was professional, almost clinical. If he enjoyed what he was doing to Gatti, it did not show much. It was only after he had turned Gatti's gargoyle-like mien into nondescript wreck that he was well assured of the TKO win.

I have seen both fights as they occurred on TV and many times after in tapes or over the youtube.

I think Floyd's greatest work was against then also undefeated and dreaded KO artist Chico Corrales who he knocked out using brutal power and with all meanness.

I always thought his best fight was against Corrales. I mean.. I think he looked his best in that particular fight. He was pretty much flawless. Yea he beat the brakes off Gatti, opened up with nasty combinations, and did something at the 1minute 20 second mark of the second round in the Gatti fight that i've never seen anyone else do in a gym or any place else. I don't know if this is learned or improvisation or what but when i saw it i had to rewind it like five times to be sure of what I saw. Mayweather throws a straight right, pivots right, throws a hook just to get Gatti's attention, then he actually takes his right hand and pries Gatti's elbow off his ribs so he can get a right in to the body, and follows it up with a right hand over the top. What's crazy about that is that he did all that just to go body head with the right hand and it took a second and a half. That is mind boggling. He's a ninja.

But yeah I just liked how Floyd used the ring in the Corrales fight. Remember Diego was supposed to crush Mayweather, and he just got outclassed, got the inside of his mouth all cut up and was having to swallow his own blood and he got dropped five times and his dad had to stop the fight it was so bad. That's probably the best piece of boxing i've seen from a fighter in a single fight, as far as the way he was able to execute his gameplan to perfection and put all his skills on display like he did with the combinations, the smart jab to the body to set up the head, his footwork, defense, reflexes, and his accuracy with his leads and counterpunching etc. It was perfect. Corrales had absolutely no answer for what Mayweather was bringing to the table. Neither did Gatti, but I think the Corrales fight showed more of what Mayweather had to offer, and was more aesthetically pleasing to watch. That's just my personal opinion.

Nope. Yes, Ali-Williams was dominance. Ali was at or nearing his peak (we never actually saw peak Ali because of the exile) at that time while "Big Cat" Williams was already damaged goods as a result of his bullet wounds. But Williams, at his peak, would've given Ali a lot of problems with his size, strength and punching power. On the other hand, Floyd-Gatti was a case of "styles make fights". Based on their respective styles Gatti wouldn't ever win against Floyd.

No this was on another level I am a huge fan of Gatti's but he was in way over his head in this fight. I really felt sorry for him. That fight was something you see in a gym sparring some where . Floyd gave him a beating . The closest thing I can think of is Holmes beating Tex Cobb.

asked this question months back..but im having a bit of a writer's block..so i cant come up with any good questions these days!..so gonna repeat an old one

"I have watched most of floyd's fights and thought he was a good fighter but after watching the Gatti fight I never knew he was that good..even for his mountanous standards he was on a personal everest that night in New Jersey..it resembled Ali's domination of Cleveland Williams when Ali knocked him down 4 times in 3 rounds..even if Gatti was past his prime he should have put up more of a fight.

It was such a one sided display that it looked almost like a sparring session..he controlled the tempo of the fight from start to finish and was almost landing at will..it was like watching an artist at work...I believe the floyd of the Gatti fight could have beaten any fighter in history at 140..the only one who COULD have beaten him would have been the Manny Pacquaio of 2009."

Was floyd's victory over Gatti his 'magnum opus' (greatest work)?