WATER OFF A DUCK'S BACK

Before 24 January, Gianluca Branco was less recognisable to American fight fans than a plate of pasta primavera. But on that freezing winter night, the World Boxing Council's top-ranked super lightweight contender almost burned superhero Arturo Gatti at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

The second-guessers and what-iffers were unanimous in their postfight lament: If Italy's Branco had fought just a little bit harder - If he had shown just a touch of late-round aggressiveness - If he had taken advantage of Gatti's injured right hand - True-blue, sure as spit, and damned if that ain't so. But for those who had been paying strict attention, Branco's lack of killer instinct was no surprise. The hint had come not in one of his 33 previous bouts, but rather at the press conference announcing the Gatti fight. On 11 November, Gatti and Branco met for the first time at an Italian restaurant in New York City.

When Gatti spoke, he welcomed Branco in both English and Italian. Then he thanked HBO, Bally's Hotel-Casino (the sponsor), Main Events (his promoter) - and his ex-fiancèe Vivian. At that point, Gatti, overcome with emotion, nearly broke down. A few minutes later, Branco and his older brother Silvio, who is the reigning World Boxing Association light-heavyweight champion, approached Gatti. Instead of talking trash, delivering a tag-team sucker punch, or offering a poisoned dish of spumoni, the brothers Branco did something drastically different: They consoled him. Imagine a pair of hardened fighters making kissy-kissy at a prefight press conference. Bernard Hopkins would sooner dress in drag for a Barbra Streisand concert and weep upon hearing "The Way We Were".

The creampuff psychology told us all we needed to know about Branco: Nice guys may not always finish last, but they'll be the last to finish off Arturo Gatti. It had been almost two years since Gatti had fought anyone other than Micky Ward. From May 2002 through June 2003, Gatti and Ward made love and war in three non-title bouts, creating a lower-case trilogy that guaranteed their shared place in history - and in each other's lives. Ward, 38, has reportedly been offered as much as $1 million to fight again. He's repeatedly said no, proving that Gatti didn't knock all of the sense out of him.

Instead, Ward accompanied Gatti to the ring for the Branco fight. No pay, but no pain either. When I asked Ward whether he thought the Gatti fights had forever diminished his rival, Irish Micky said, "I know it took a lot out of me. It had to take something out of him. He knows that. But Arturo has been counted out so many times -" Gatti has been described as boxing's rock star, and like hard-driving icons such as Steven Tyler and Keith Richard, he defies logic - and his body - by simply continuing to perform.

Father Time isn't known for his patience (Buddy McGirt, Gatti's trainer, watched his son turn pro on the Gatti-Branco undercard), but if nothing else, the Branco fight confirmed that Gatti, now 31, has not turned into Gandhi. Thank God for small things. Theoretically, at least, Branco represented the right fight at the right time. Having fractured his right hand in the third Ward fight, Gatti needed a soft opponent, at least figuratively, if not literally. (His resume, of course, suggests that if matched with an octogenarian with emphysema, Gatti will bleed, then rise from an early-rounds knockdown to win in a candidate for Fight of the Century.) Added value: With the WBC advancing its reputation by naming division leader Kostya Tszyu "champion emeritus," the "regular" title was vacant.

That gave Gatti, who had been without a crown for more than six years, the motivation that a date with an unknown and relatively unaccomplished foe couldn't provide. One thing about Gatti: He loves to be belted. Like 99 percent of the American media, I was unfamiliar with the 33-year-old Branco, so I contacted Italian journalist Alessandro Ferrarini, whose knowledge on such subjects is unmatched. "First of all," Ferrarini said, "Branco is a technically sound boxer. I believe that all of his statements about going toe to toe with Gatti are bullshit for the U.S. media only.

We spoke at length about his fight vs. Arturo before [Branco] left [for the USA], and he agreed with me that the best strategy would be to try and outbox Gatti for the first four-five rounds and then hope Arturo gets mad and begins to get wild. "This is his only option, by the way. Branco is well-schooled, has decent hand speed, but no real pop in his punches." In Branco's only fight outside of Italy, he won the vacant European light-welterweight title in June 2001 by scoring a 12-round split decision over Gabriel Mapouka in Massy, France. It was a solid win in his opponent's backyard, but there was nothing else to suggest Branco merited the WBC's No. 1 ranking or belonged on a level with Gatti, Tszyu, Sharmba Mitchell, Zab Judah, and Ricky Hatton. Deserving or not, Branco was prepared to bite down on his red-white-and-green gumshield and take his shot, as so many have done against Gatti.

A handful of Italians have flourished in the super lightweight division, including world champs Duilio Loi, Sandro Lopopolo, Bruno Arcari, and Patrizio Oliva, who lost a title fight at welterweight to McGirt. Branco was not meant to join them. In addition to Ward, Gatti's ringwalk included NASCAR superstar Dale Earnhardt Jr. Fittingly, Gatti, 140lbs (10st), out of Jersey City, New Jersey, had no trouble starting his engine. He opened with single hooks to the body and a counter right uppercut. "Thunder" didn't storm out of his corner, nor did he retreat. His instructions were to box, and that's what he did. From rounds one through six, he averaged 47 jabs per stanza. "Plan A was smart aggression, but when Arturo was flatfooted, he wasn't as effective," explained McGirt. "Plan B was to make the guy come to us. Branco is an effective counterpuncher. We wanted to beat him at his own game.

"People expect every fight to be Micky Ward. But Branco was very awkward and Arturo couldn't get a rhythm." Branco, 140lbs, from Civitavecchia, Italy, started smartly, doubling and tripling his jab. He connected flush to the face with a right in the second, but Gatti still won the round by scoring with a double-hook. When Gatti carried the third as well, a pattern seemed to be emerging in a relatively uneventful fight. But Gatti and drama are linked more tightly than Beyonce and overexposure, so ringsiders knew better than to get comfortable. Branco was occasionally zeroing in with straight rights, and Gatti's left eye began swelling in the fourth. The Italian's confidence soared in the fifth, when he smiled at Gatti after scoring with a series of rights. Then, halfway through the seventh, came a potential turning point; Gatti landed a right to the hip and grimaced in pain.

It was a virtual replay of what had happened in the fourth round of his third fight with Ward, when he fractured that hand. "Yes, I broke my hand again, definitely," Gatti said in his postfight interview. In fact, he had badly sprained his middle knuckle. At this point, and after three surgeries, it qualifies as a chronic injury. "There's no break, and there will be no operation, Pat Lynch, Gatti's manager, told me from Houston, where he was attending the Super Bowl. "The Wednesday before the fight, Arturo was training at Marciano's Gym [in New Jersey]. He called me at home and said:

`We have a big problem. My hand is killing me.'" "We knew going in the hand was gonna be a problem," McGirt said. "When I saw they were gonna use Reyes gloves [considered punchers' gloves], I said: `Damn.' "When he hit Branco with that bodyshot in the seventh, he gave me that look. But in reality, he had hurt the hand way before that, in the first round." Gatti, 37-6 (28 KOs), used his right sparingly in the eighth, but still won the round. Branco took the ninth by connecting again and again with his right, and by the round's end, Gatti's left eye was swelling shut. But those hoping for an upset were quieted with 37 seconds remaining in the 10th, when Gatti missed with a right but followed with a hook. Boom! Branco, 32-1-1 (15 KOs), survived the round but lost his chance to win.

Branco closed fairly well; I gave him the 11th and 12th rounds, but he never looked a winner. "He didn't do badly," Ferrarini commented. "The fight was winnable. I'm better trying to understand what the missing part was, and here's my answer: managing and matchmaking. You cannot jump from a couple of six-rounders in your hometown to an HBO fight in Atlantic City." The decision was unanimous, with Anek Hongtongkam (Thailand) and Tom Kaczmarek (USA) scoring 116-111 and Guido Cavallieri (Italy) 115-112. Boxing Monthly scored for Gatti by 115-112. "Things weren't coming out right tonight," Gatti said.

"I was kind of sluggish." But not too sluggish to celebrate by gambling into the wee hours of the morning. Gatti played roulette with a delicious babe on each arm. Betcha the sympathy he received from such company was a whole lot more comforting than what Branco had provided at that press conference in New York City. Next for Gatti: a date on 17 or 24 July with former lightweight titlist Leonard Dorin in Montreal. Given Dorin's walk-in style, Gatti will either move and box or stand and brawl. Whether he's armed with one or two working fists will likely determine the outcome.