WHO THE HELL IS CARLOS BALDOMIR?

The words did not sting any more because the old champion has grown used to them. Doubters and detractors have been his most loyal followers all his life, dogging his every step and demeaning his every accomplishment. None of them had stopped him yet, so why should the same words from a new challenger concern him now?

July 15 - by Ron Borges

"If Zab had trained for that fight like he was supposed to, we wouldn't even be standing here,'' Arturo Gatti snarled last April in a crowded New York restaurant as the undisputed welterweight champion of the unknown sat impassively listening. "He just happened to catch Zab on an off night. I know this guy is supposed to be very tough, but being tough isn't enough when you're fighting Arturo Gatti.''

As one of boxing's most revered warriors spoke in a taunting tone, Carlos Baldomir sat nearby and took it all in. Although he speaks little English he didn't need a translation. He's heard this all before.

Heard it from Judah, who kept yapping away at how unworthy a challanger Baldomir was right up until they raised the Argentinian's hand and handed him the undisputed welterweight title January 7. Off night, of course.

Heard it from a young hot prospect named Mickey Rodriquez in the days leading up to their World Boxing Council title elimination fight in Chicago last year. Heard it right up until they raised his hand and told Baldomir he'd won a title shot that had eluded him for good reason all his life. Off night, of course.

Baldomir has, it would seem, caught quite a few guys on off nights of late if Gatti and his other critics are to be believed. Twenty straight guys to be precise since the last time Carlos Baldomir lost a fight eight years ago. That's a lot of "off nights,'' Baldomir knows.

Whether or not his July 22 opponent understands that is of little concern to him because after having become at 35 the most unlikely of world champions, he could care less what people think as long as someone writes the check and leaves the rest to him.

"When we signed for this fight I told Carlos 'Atlantic City is Arturo Gatti country,''' recalled Scott Woodworth, the vice president of boxing operations for Sycun Ringside Promotions which is now handling Baldomir's affairs. "All he said was, 'So what? I only had four fans in New York.'''

Baldomir was referring to the highly partisan crowd that was behind Judah the night he beat him in Judah's hometown. That was not a first-time experience for Baldomir, who is a poor man's Winky Wright. He has fought most of his life without recognition, squaring off with hometown heroes in eight countries and across four continents. That is not the only reason his record is an unspectacular 42-9-6 with only 12 knockouts but having a passport with foldout pages hasn't helped his cause very often.

Neither did a slow start in which he lost many fights early in his career through mismanagement and a general lack of faith in his own skills that only began to be overcome after the legendary 83-year-old trainer Amilcar Brusa, who schooled Hall of Fame middleweight Carlos Monzon, took over his preparations full time about five years ago.

When preparation finally met opportunity in January, Baldomir was ready. Zab Judah was not. Gatti and much of the boxing world have contented themselves by laying the blame for that at Judah's feet, insisting he was ill-prepared to face a man he knew little about and respected even less.

Whatever the excuse, Baldomir understands what that night met and, more importantly, what July 22 could mean if he can convert another skeptic to his cause the hard way - by beating him down.

"As important as this fight is, it's not as big as the next one after I knockout Gatti,'' Baldomir has said. "I definitely have more pressure on me (than Gatti does). Gatti is very well known. I have to prove myself against him but that's the main reason I took this fight. Beating Arturo Gatti will show everyone that I'm a true champion.''

Yet as willing as Baldomir is to concede that he understands his place in boxing after so many years spent fighting with a roadmap in one hand and his passport in the other, he also quickly makes clear that because you have been pushed into boxing's dark places for so long doesn't mean you can't fight. More importantly, it doesn't mean you can't win.

It only means you can still sneak up on the unsuspecting and mug them, leaving with their belt or their opportunity in your hands before they know what hit them.

"I do think people have underestimated me,'' Baldomir says. "Nobody believed in me but I believed in myself. I waited so long for my opportunity and it paid off. I am the real world welterweight champion. I have the WBC belt and the RING (magazine) belt. I will be even better in the ring now that I'm finally a world champion.''

Old boxing hands will tell you that is often the case, believing that a fighter improves 25 per cent or more after becoming world champion simply because of a growth in confidence. Gatti, who has been a champion at three weights and is now trying to make it four, knows all about the value of confidence and grit. Yet as important as it has been in his own career he seems, publicly at least, to have dismissed it in this case. He seems to view Baldomir the same way Judah, Rodriquez and so many others - now 20 and counting - did. He sees little to be concerned with, believing he has the superior skill and pedigree even though his 40-7 record isn't all that much better than Baldomir's 42-9-6 mark.

Gatti is certainly right about the latter point because the bulk of his defeats have come against some of the best fighters in the world, fighters of the ilk of Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, Jr., while many of Baldomir's losses came from a list that begins and ends with one word - "Who?'' Still, no one would argue against a claim that he is physically as tough as they come, has a relentless style with only forward gear and has a chin that thus far has born a strong resemblance to granite.

Although he lacks the kind of punching power Gatti has shown at lower weights, Baldomir's chin has given him a willingness to take as much punishment as an opponent can give and keep coming, a pressure that has caused many opponents to implode. According to Baldomir's supporters for example, Judah was heard telling his father after the eighth round of their confrontation "I can't hurt this guy.'' His discouraged tone made clear to them what was coming, which was a rally by Baldomir that eventually made him a latter day "Cinderella Man,'' in Woodworth's opinion.

"The longer the fight goes the more confident I am going to be,'' Baldomir says of Gatti. "I'm stronger (than most welterweights, including Gatti). I'm going to come forward and counterpunch. When he throws one punch I'll throw two or three.''

One clear example of the approach the little-known welterweight champion will bring to Atlantic City came before the judah fight even began. During the rules meetings, when the fighters were selecting their gloves, Judah, as is the champion's right, went first. As he slipped on one pair after another a bored Baldomir finally picked up a glove. When he did Judah slapped it out of his hand saying, "You don't pick nothing until I'm done!''

Many fighters, their nerves already on edge, might have snapped. Baldomir merely smirked and later told Woodwirth, "He's doing that because he's scared.''

Before the opening round Judah again tried gamesmanship, attempting to hit Baldomir low when the referee asked them to touch gloves in the center of the ring before the opening bell. As he would do most of the night, Judah missed, punching Baldomir in the thigh. When the unknown challenger returned to his corner he was seething but said nothing.

Instead, he came out and pressured Judah early, exchanging willingly with him until Judah again tried to hit him low and received a warning for his actions.

The longer the fight went the more Judah began to unravel in the face of the relentlessness of Baldomir, who simply took all Judah had to give and refused to retreat. By late in the fight Judah was holding and running more than he was punching, getting rocked twice by the less-than-heavy hands of Baldomir. In the end, justice was served for once and Baldomir was awarded the victory he'd earned but few even his own corner thought he would get.

"We didn't even have a party planned for after the fight,'' admitted Sean Gibbons, Sycun's matchmaker and a man who has been associated with Baldomir dating back to the days when he was promoted by Bob Arum. "We sort of took over Judah's party. Don (King, Judah's promoter) told us to come over and there weren't any of Judah's people there. So his party became Carlos' party.''

Baldomir would like nothing better than to do the same to Gatti, who has partied in Atlantic City so many times he is considered to be their professional franchise. This will be Gatti's 20th appearance on HBO and he has sold out Convention Hall so often no one was surprised when the Baldomir fight became the latest such event on his long resume of financial and fistic success stories. But while Gatti may believe Carlos Baldomir is a product not of his skills but of odd circumstance and Zab Judah's inattention to the demands of his profession, his promoter, Carl Moretti of Main Events, understands being unknown does not mean being unskilled.

"Baldomir did what he had to do against Judah regardless of what Judah did or didn't do,'' Moretti said. "He has a great trainer and he's shown improvement since Brusca started working with him. When the fight starts he'll be bigger than Gatti too and that's something Arturo isn't used to.

"Baldomir isn't a huge puncher but he has that great chin and Gatti hasn't been in with many guys physically bigger than he is. He may hit him 150 times in the head and nothing happens and then he breaks a hand (as has happened to Gatti more times than he'd like to recall) and then you have a problem.

"I gave him no shot to win over Judah but he can get hit with everything and keeps putting pressure on you and that can cause the other guy some problems, too. You can't be deceived by those (nine) losses. Most of them were early in his career when he wasn't well managed. He's a tough, strong guy. He beat Micky Rodriguez, who was a good Mexican prospect. You have to give him credit for that. One thing is sure. He won't be intimidated by Atlantic City. He's fought all over the world.

"The funny thing about this fight is he we wanted it because he's the perfect style for Arturo. He comes foward and looks to fight. He's not a speed guy and he doesn't have great punching power. But Baldomir had a lot of other opportunities and he chose Arturo. I'm sure the money had something to do with it but to some extent he has to believe his best chance to win was against Gatti. His style is better for Gatti but his strength and ability to take a punch sort of negate some of that style advantage.''

Gatti will go into the fight at least a 2-1 favorite just as Judah went in even more heavily favored but if the unlikely late rise of Carlos Baldomir says anything about boxing it's that it doesn't matter what you go into the ring as. It only matters what you come out with and for the past 20 nights (18-0-2) spread over nearly six years Carlos Baldomir has not come out a loser. He beat Rodriguez at a time when the Mexican was 26-1 with 21 knockouts. He beat Alpasian Aguzum when he was 29-1 and Hassan Ali when he was 25-0. He stopped frank Olsen in Denmark when olsen was 30-0 and he got a win by DQ over then undefeated tough guy Joshua Clottey in England.

None of those fighters are in a class with Gatti to be sure, or even in a class of the guys who have beaten Gatti, but on Baldomir's two biggest nights, against Rodrguez and Judah, he defied oddsmakers and over-confident opponents to win at a time in his life when it would have been easier to concede to the doubters, take a check and go back home to Sante Fe, Argentina and talk about what mght have been with his wife and four children.

Instead, he won and won again. When July 22 dawns he will see no reason why this should not continue because everything about his late rise has been unexpected. No one would have predicted that one day RING magazine editor-in-chief Nigel Collins would slip the magazine's undisputed welterweight title belt around Baldomir's waist that day in New York as Gatti looked on, just as no one could have seen that one night, 58 fights into his career he would earn more money ($1.2 million with an additional $100,000 bonus if he wins from Sycuan) in less than an hour than he'd earned in a lifetime as a prize fighter.

"...Did anyone think he'd become welterweight champion?'' asked Mike Marley, a long-time fixture on the edges of professional boxing who now works for Sycuan among others. "No but we knew he was a tough guy who had a great trainer and was willing to work hard. He was a refreshing journeyman type guy. When we'd ask him about Monzon (who is a legend in Argentina and considered among the best middleweights to ever fight) he said 'The only thing I have in common with Monzon is we were born in the same town and are trained by the same guy.'''

Baldomir willingly concedes that point, saying, "I could have never had the career of Monzon. I walked a more difficult path.''

That path led him to rings in Italy, Denmark, England, South Africa and around the globe. It took him to more continents than Christopher Columbus visited until it finally led him to the only thing he had ever hoped for. An opportunity on the right night.

"What he needed was a chance,'' Marley said. "Then it was up to him.

He used it to his best advantage. After he beat Judah he didn't demand a new contract like some guys. All he asked for was to fly home to Argentina first class. He'd never flown first class. He'd never made more than $20,000 until the Judah fight (for which he received $100,000). It meant so much to the guy.

"He hit the boxing lottery. Now he's got a million dollar ticket in his hand and he believes he's not only going to beat Gatti but that he'll retire him.''

Consideirng all the adversity Gatti has fought through that might be a stretch but what is not is Baldomir's faith in the one person he feels he can count on. Himself.

"People have always looked at him as the underdog,'' Gibbons said, "so he's not offended about it. He knows why they think that. Before 2000 he basically managed himself. He took any fight that came up. He wasn't always ready to win.

"He didn't start believing in himself until the last few years. Now he thinks Gatti is the right guy for him at the right time. He could have gotten a little more money to fight Ricky Hatton but he knew he'd get paid well this fight and get paid double next fight after he beats Gatti.

"He told me recently, 'Judah was a big win but I haven't shown what I can do yet. Ten years ago Gatti (who is 34 himself) was in his prime. Has he gotten faster? I don't think so. But I got better.''

Come July 22, the unknown champion will have another another chance to become a latter-day Cinderella Man. In the same hall where so many Miss Americas saw their dreams fulfilled, Carlos Baldomir will seek validation, looking to again live out a champion's dream.

"I have great respect for Arturo Gatti,'' Baldomir says. "He's a genuine warrior. I believe this will be my toughest fight ever but I know in my head and in my heart that my destiny is to beat him. When I do it will underline that I am the world's best at 147 pounds.''

Until then, he'll just have to take his word for it. Lately, that's been more than good enough for him.