One million dollars each. That is what Micky Ward and Arturo Gatti should get for a rematch. Their epic battle Saturday night was one of the greatest contests of wills I have ever seen in my life. If Michael Jordan playing a game with the flu is considered athletically heroic, there is no word, or even combination of words, to describe the constitutions of Micky Ward and Arturo Gatti.

	Bloody Micky Ward, left, throws a punch in the first fight.

Going into the fight everyone figured it would be all action. Gatti's legacy, after all, has been built not so much on his points wins over Tracy Patterson and then in defense of the 130-pound title, but instead on his back and forth brawls with Wilson Rodriguez, Gabriel Ruelas and Ivan Robinson. Micky Ward's reputation was similarly built on stunning all-action slugfests against Shea Neary, Emanuel Burton and Jesse James Leija.

There were however, certain signs that the fight would not live up to all that it seemed to promise. With boxing master Buddy McGirt as his trainer, Gatti had in his most recent outing reverted to a more scientific approach against Terronn Millett. It was still an exciting fight, but not quite a memorable Gatti war. And although Ward won the 2001 fight of the year against Emanuel Burton, some of his other performances -- most notably against Reggie Green -- suggested that while the fight-ending power in his left hook to the body meant that his fights were dramatic to the end, an opponent intent on boxing was capable of neutralizing his offense.

Gatti answered the bell for the first round with Ward intent on keeping his distance and using his jab, and it worked. The early rounds were all Arturo and were not all that exciting. But eventually, of course, Ward connected and Gatti went berserk and what ensued was one of boxing's all-time greatest wars. If you have not seen it, find it on tape. Then do the sensible thing and demand a rematch.

Once the action picked up after the first couple of rounds the two went at each other like cavemen. It was Ward-Burton, but with more firepower. It was Marco Antonio Barrera-Erik Morales, but 20 pounds heavier. It is not possible to stop Gatti with shots to the head, but Ward, rallying late, nearly pulled it off with a shot to the body in the ninth. Gatti miraculously survived the knockdown and the round.

After the kind of beating he sustained, however, it did not look like McGirt was going to allow his charge to answer the 10th and final bell. Ward's corner began to celebrate prematurely. When Ward finally learned that there had been a mistake and that Gatti was of course coming out to finish the fight, Ward seemed to deflate. The elation and relief of thinking that he just won the fight and did not have to go through another three minutes of hell with this man, whose heart and will matched his own, followed by the realization that the nightmare was not over, appeared to take the wind out of his sail. Gatti won the 10th and in so doing seemed to wrap up the decision.

It was Ward, however, who was awarded the majority decision victory. Gatti had been penalized a point in the fourth round for a low blow which appeared unintentional, but had a debilitating effect on Ward nonetheless. In addition, one judge scored the ninth round 10-7 for Ward rather than the more traditional score of 10-8 for a one knockdown round. The 10-7 score was justifiable, because in addition to the knockdown Ward had Gatti badly hurt and, it appeared, nearly stopped. Still, Gatti supporters have a reasonable complaint about the 10-7 score because their man somehow managed to rally late in the round.

I am not one to cheer only those fighters who engage in particularly brutal fights. Two of my favorite boxers over the last decade have been Pernell Whitaker and Chris Byrd. But here we have a case of Ward and Gatti providing us all with one of history's great athletic dramas, and neither guy made seven figures for his effort. This, while there are several fighters with multi-million dollar television contracts who are content at times to turn in uninspiring, half-hearted performances.

Micky Ward and Arturo Gatti, and for that matter Emanuel Augustus (formerly Emanuel Burton) and Julian Letterlough and Julio Gonzales and so many others, should not have to work another day in their lives once their boxing careers are over. The reality, of course, is that most fighters end their careers without much money and without many options. And in particular, fighters like Ward, Gatti, Augustus, Letterlough and Gonzales also end up physically damaged, frequently brain damaged.

With Ward and Gatti, we have a case of two guys who are in a position to really cash in, and they deserve to cash in. To the tune of at least a million apiece. You'd have to be brain damaged not to want to give it to them.

Max Kellerman is a studio analyst for ESPN2's Friday Night Fights.