When Arturo "thunder" Gatti and "Irish" Mickey Ward fought their epic battle in May, nobody thought the two boxing veterans could match the courage, intensity, and punishment they displayed and dished out in that fight again. As HBO commentator Larry Merchant so eloquently put it, "We knew this would be a candidate for Fight of The Year, but what we didn't know is that it may well be the Fight of The Century".

Like Merchant, I was humbled by the superhuman Ward and Gatti as they pummelled the crap out of eachother at the Mohegan Sun Resort in Connecticut, six months ago. The explosive combinations by the Italian-Canadian Gatti, the brutal body shot to the liver by the thirty-eight year-old blue-collar man from Massachussetts, Mickey Ward, the fiery exchanges between the two warriors who seemingly would have rather died in the ring that night than quit. The fight was so great that HBO and ESPN and boxing fans everywhere pressed for a rematch, and soon the two men would sign a deal that would pay them one million dollars each, the most money either fighter has ever seen.

However, we all know that sequels never surpass the original, so as we prepared for Ward-Gatti II in front of Gatti's homecrowd of Atlantic City, New Jersey, expectations were high but not expected to be exceeded.

How foolish that mentality was. Did we forget that we were not talking about normal human beings, but Mickey Ward and Arturo Gatti?

In a tribute to the great classic bouts of the 1950's, HBO broadcast the pre-fight hype all the way up to the opening bell in vintage black and white, as if to suggest that tonight was a special night, transcending the modern-day spectacles and having more in common with the glory days of Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Louis than Mike Tyson and Oscar de la Hoya.

I can't fully describe the anticipation and elation that came over me as I prepared for round one (partly because I'm drunk), but I knew I was about to watch history int the making between Gatti and Ward.

And my God, did they deliver.

Gatti, whose footwork was excellent all night, raped Ward with his fists for the first three savage rounds, knocking him down with a right hand in the third. Ward dropped to his knees and fell face first into the turnbuckle. The crowd erupted. Ward got up, and could barely stand, as Gatti moved in to finish him off. Chants of "Gatti! Gatti!" filled the arena as Arturo punished Ward with combinations to the head and body.

At this point I am not ashamed to say that tears welled up in my eyes after witnessing what happened next.

Ward, just when it looked like the end for him, started fighting back. He sarcastically pointed to his ribs and motioned for Gatti to hit him there. When he did, Ward shrugged his shoulders as if to say "I didn't feel it". The crowd was on it's feet. Ward fought his way away from the ropes and survived the round. Like we should be surprised.

Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward might not be the most talented boxers in the world, but no one could match the heart, courage, and determination they showed tonight. I knew as I watched the fight that I was watching something special unfold. That while most people watched the Leaf game, had a few beers and cold pizza and went off to sleep, I was witnessing something better than Lewis-Tyson, better than Ali-Foreman, better than sex.

I witnessed one of the greatest boxing matches in the history of the sport.

It would be sadistic of us to ask for a Ward-Gatti III, but with Ward winning the first fight in a squeaker, and Gatti winning a unanimous decision tonight (he won all ten rounds), it certainly looks like a distinct possibility. We have no right to ask these two gladiators to give us any more than they already have. But for the good of boxing, for the good of the greatest sport in the world, we NEED Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward to give us the greatest trilogy boxing has ever seen.

Sadly, it's possible that they've already given all they have to give.

But I doubt it.