Patterson Retires After Defeat

It ended with little fanfare Saturday night, scant notice, not much to prove and nothing left in the tank.

On a night when Paul Ingle successfully defended his International Boxing Federation featherweight title and captured Junior Jones’ International Boxing Organization crown, and Arturo Gatti made short work of another opponent, Tracy Patterson’s preliminary fight at Madison Square Garden was the most poignant. A former World Boxing Council super-bantamweight and IBF junior-lightweight champion appearing in his 72nd fight, Patterson, unable to beat a man who had had only 11 fights, faced reality and retired.

After losing a unanimous decision to Scott Harrison (10-1-1) of Scotland at Madison Square Garden on the undercard of the Lennox Lewis-Michael Grant title fight, the 35-year-old Patterson, his right eye swollen shut, quietly passed word through an intermediary that he was leaving the ring for the last time.

Because Patterson’s farewell fight was one of the night’s early bouts, it was viewed by only a small crowd of early arrivals.

Patterson, the adopted son of two-time heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson, finishes 63-8-1 with 43 knockouts.

Ingle (23-1, 16 knockouts) survived a ninth-round knockdown and went on to score an 11th-round TKO victory over Jones (47-4, 27 knockouts).

Jones was given a standing eight-count by referee Steve Smoger early in the 11th. Then at the 1:18 mark of the round, Smoger threw his arms around Jones, signaling that the fight was over.

Afterward, handlers for Jones said that they would recommend that he, too, retire.

Gatti (32-4, 27 knockouts) knocked Eric Jakubowski (20-7, four knockouts) down twice before referee Wayne Kelley stopped that bout 40 seconds into the second round of a scheduled 10-rounder.

The last time Gatti fought, in February, he became embroiled in controversy when he weighed in at 141 pounds on the day before he faced Joey Gamache, then ballooned up to 160 by fight time and went on to demolish Gamache.

The contract for Saturday’s match against Jakubowski called for the two fighters to weigh 148.

Gatti’s handlers hope to match him against Oscar De La Hoya at Madison Square Garden in December. De La Hoya first must face Shane Mosley on June 17 at Staples Center.

“I think he [De La Hoya] is the best fighter in the world,” Gatti said, “and I only want to fight the best.”

In another preliminary bout, Wladimir Klitschko of the Ukraine defended his World Boxing Assn. Intercontinental heavyweight title and improved to 33-1 with 31 knockouts by stopping David Bostice (21-2-1, 12 knockouts) at 1:27 of the second round.

At that point, with Bostice already on the canvas for the fourth time, referee Joe Santarpia ended the bout.