LEWISTON – Joey Gamache of Lewiston has agreed to fight Arturo Gatti in a 10-round junior welterweight bout on Feb. 26 in New York’s Madison Square Garden.

The bout, a co-feature to Oscar De La Hoya’s WBC welterweight title-eliminator against Darrell Coley, will be televised on HBO, which plans an announcement Tuesday, the Sun Journal of Lewiston reported Monday.

“This fight is definitely one of the biggest, if not the biggest, fight of my career,” Gamache said. “It’s been a long road for me. I’ve been keeping busy just hoping to get an opportunity like this.”

Gatti, who fights out of Atlantic City, N.J., is a former IBF junior lightweight champion who has a record of 30-4 with 25 knockouts. His hard left hook has earned him the nickname “Thunder.”

Gamache last fought on Nov. 5, knocking out Indiana’s Craig Houk in the sixth round at the Lewiston Armory. Before that he had been fighting for small purses at casinos and clubs across the country, building up a nine-fight win streak in the wake of his loss to Julio Cesar Chavez in October 1996.

Gamache, a two-time former world champion who was 45-3 after the loss to Chavez, said he set his sights on a bout with Gatti earlier this year.

“I went to [HBO vice president] Lou DiBella’s office this summer after I fought in South Carolina and I pitched the fight to him,” Gamache said. “I said, `Look, we’re two guys who come to fight. We cut, we bleed, and that’s what people want to see.’ ”

Gamache was one of a handful of fighters who lined up to fight Gatti, who lost three fights in a row before coming back with a first-round knockout against Reyes Munoz on Aug. 14.

Gamache will be paid $75,000, while Gatti is slated to receive between $600,000 and $700,000.

“I’ve turned down some solid fights that could have gotten me here earlier,” Gamache said. “It wasn’t the right timing for me. I’ve wanted to fight at Madison Square Garden my whole career and [manager] Johnny Bos always said it had to be the right fight. This is the one.”

The 33-year-old Gamache said he plans to return to Lewiston for Christmas before going back to New York to begin his training.

“I’m not in bad shape now,” he said. “I don’t let myself get out of shape. I definitely want to get started.”