Joe Gamache Sr. will be happy to know that his son is talking to the public again.

After months and months of fielding phone calls from people looking to talk to his son, the elder Gamache has been taken off the hook, so to speak, by the former boxer.

“Right here,” Gamache answered when the caller asked for Joey. Stunned, the caller almost stuttered out the response.

“You’re a hard man to get hold of.”

Gamache laughed.

It was nice to hear.

Joey Gamache was last seen leaving a Portland courthouse last August. It was just prior to the boxer settling a reported $2 million lawsuit with a Maine bank.

After years of fighting for peanuts, Gamache had finally cashed in, and he promptly used his new- found wealth to disappear.

His father patiently explained, call after call, that Joey wasn’t in the state. That he wanted to lie low for a while and get his head together. This went on for months.

“I know Joey will want to talk to you,” he said time after time. “It’s just he needs some time. He’ll call you.”

It was Joey’s head we were concerned about, after all. Arturo Gatti put a nationally televised pounding on him on HBO in February 2000 that was ugly. There was genuine fear for the Lewiston fighter’s well being. Internet rumors swirled that he had suffered brain damage.

The worst possibilities came to mind. That he would be punch drunk for the rest of his life. That he would talk like he had a mouth full of marbles.

It was obvious that none of those things had happened to him. Gamache’s words flowed smoothly and without strain.

But it turns out that Joey’s not really ready to talk. His phone number was included by accident on a fax promoting an amateur boxing card. The fax even suggested we call for an interview.

Well, Joey says he doesn’t want to talk. But when slightly prodded he will.

On Gatti – “It’s nothing personal. He took advantage of the rules. But the rules are all messed up,” he said.

Gamache is talking about how Gatti was allowed to gain 19 pounds between the fight’s weigh-in and the fight.

There’s more. Gamache and his agent Johnny Bos are alleging that the scales used for the weigh-in were faulty, and that Gatti was overweight to begin with. They’re saying the commission looked the other way at the weigh-in.

They’re saying that Gatti’s extra weight put Gamache at risk. That lighter gloves were used than if the fight had been scheduled for the 160 pounds Gatti weighed when the bell sounded to start the fight.

They are alleging these things through a New York law firm that has filed an motion of intent to file suit against the New York State Boxing Commission, although Gamache wasn’t fully aware of it.

“I knew there had been some talk about it. But I haven’t talked to my lawyer lately. I stay to myself a lot. Maybe I should give him a call,” Gamache said.

In addition to his lawyer and the press, Joey hasn’t talked to his good buddy Johnny Bos for a while either.

“How’s Johnny doing?” he asks. “What’s he up to?”

But Gamache doesn’t really want to talk about it. None of it. Not yet. He says he will and that he will call.

“I’m just keeping a low profile. I want to stay out of the spotlight and live a private life,” Gamache said.

He says he wants to promote amateur fights in Maine. He wants to get boxing going again. He is taking over for his father, who has spent his life working in a gym with kids. In a way, it’s payback to his father. So he and his sister are promoting amateur fight cards at the Multi Purpose Center in Lewiston.

He’s willing to talk about that. Some. But he’d prefer not to talk about Gatti. Not now anyway. Well, maybe just a little.

“He knocked me out,” Joey said. “I didn’t know what hit me. I could hear people talking. Asking me stuff. It was just a hard way to end my career. But look. I really don’t want to talk about it now. I will. I’ll give you a call. I promise.”

It’s OK, Joey. We can wait.

Don Perryman can be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or dperryman@bangordailynews.net.