Arturo Gatti Will Be Sorely Missed!!

[Brad Russ]

Arturo Gatti was found dead of an apparently violent death at just 37 years old in the early morning hours of Saturday in a hotel in Brazil, where he reportedly was celebrating his second honeymoon.

It was needless and tragic, as is the death of any young person.

Gatti’s loss, though, will hit boxing particularly hard. He represented one of the last remaining links to the sport’s past, a fearless and feared man who was a fighter in every sense of the word.

If he was attacked, he died as he made his name in the ring, fighting to the bitter finish. Gatti was a modern day Jake La Motta, the legendary “Raging Bull.” Gatti wasn’t nearly as talented as La Motta, but he was every bit as tough and fearless and produced scores of memorable fights.

Each bout was more astonishing and hard to believe than the previous one. His 1996 come-from-behind victory over Wilson Rodriguez could have been the crowning point of his career, but he eclipsed that pulsating bout at least five times. Bouts with Gabe Ruelas and Ivan Robinson established him forever as one of the sport’s greatest action stars.

But Gatti will be forever linked with Micky Ward, the New England tough guy with whom he put on a sizzling series of fights. They rank alongside the matchups of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera and Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez as the finest trilogies in the last 50 years.

“You fight a guy, you go to war with them, and there is a respect there. But with me and Arturo, it was greater,” Ward told RingTV.com. “There was a real bond between us. It’s why hearing this, hearing what happened to Arturo is like a piece of you is gone, because we shared so much of everything in the ring. We were friends, close friends.”

Gatti literally kept boxing alive in Atlantic City, N.J., earlier this decade, where he would routinely sell out venerable Boardwalk Hall. Atlantic City’s heyday as a boxing mecca was in the mid-to-late 1980s, when Mike Tyson headlined.

Tyson moved his act to Las Vegas and fought most of his biggest fights there in the 1990s and Atlantic City struggled, boxing-wise, in the 1990s. But Gatti reinvigorated the sport in the casino town, repeatedly putting on Fighter of the Year-type shows from 1997-2005.

Gatti’s downfall as a fighter came in the latter years, when he was thrashed by Floyd Mayweather Jr. Gatti was not nearly fast enough or skilled enough to deal with a guy like Mayweather, who is among the most gifted men in the sport in the last three decades. Mayweather put a merciless beating on Gatti, rarely getting hit and raking him with flush shots to the face.

It was clear by the second round that this would not be Gatti’s night. It ended when Larry Hazard, the head of the New Jersey Athletic Control Board, walked to Gatti’s corner and “suggested” they stop the fight at the end of the sixth.

Mayweather’s reputation as a fighter and as a pay-per-view attraction were enhanced with that win and he sadly recalled Gatti on Saturday.

“He was a terrific champion and a very exciting fighter,” Mayweather said. “It’s terrible to hear this news and I offer my prayers and sympathies to his family.”

The Boxing Writers Association of America in 1998 named its Fight of the Year Award after Harry Markson, the one-time director of boxing at Madison Square Garden.

If the organization were wise, it would find another way to honor Markson, who made numerous contributions to the sport, and rename it after Gatti.

There would be no more appropriate or prestigious honor a boxing organization could bestow on a pair of fighters than to give them the Arturo Gatti Award for Fight of the Year.

He was one of a kind and his senseless death won’t do anything to dull the memory of the rare boxer who was the epitome of a never-say-die warrior.

[Brad Russ]

I'm so sad to hear this news about Gatti. It looks like his wife, or girlfriend ended up killing him. Gatti was never one of the most elite fighters, but he was always a tough opponent for the top guys, and probably had the most heart of any boxer Iv'e ever seen. Gatti was most well known for a fight he had a number of years back. He was beaten so badly that his eyes were both swollen shut. He was virtually fighting blind, but amazingly ended up winning the fight. Arturo Gatti, I will never forget you, and you will be sorely missed by this boxing fan. Rest In Peace!!!

[Brad Russ]

Arturo Gatti's Wife Accused Of Murder

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Police investigating the death of former boxing champion Arturo Gatti are working on the assumption his wife strangled him with her purse strap while he drunkenly slept. The woman's lawyer, however, insists she is innocent and was too "fragile" to kill a boxer.

Lead investigator Moises Teixeira told The Associated Press on Monday nothing is being ruled out but he is certain the woman acted by herself.


Amanda Rodrigues, escorted by police after being arrested in Recife, Brazil, on Sunday, is the primary suspect in the death of her husband, Arturo Gatti.
"It was technically impossible for a third person to have been in the flat," where Gatti was found dead early Saturday, Teixeira said. "The investigation isn't finished, but we continue to think she did this alone."

Gatti's 23-year-old Brazilian wife, Amanda Rodrigues, told investigators she awoke Saturday about 6 a.m. to find her husband's body in the apartment they rented in Porto de Galinhas, a seaside resort in northeastern Pernambuco state.

Rodrigues told police she had a fight with Gatti after dinner Friday night and he pushed her to the ground, resulting in minor injuries to her elbow and chin. Witnesses also reported to police the couple fought and that Gatti was drunk.

Rodrigues told police the 37-year-old former junior welterweight champion then got into a cab with their son and returned to their rented apartment, leaving her alone downtown.

Teixeira said witnesses told police Gatti left his son to sleep in the apartment, then returned to the city center to find his wife. She arrived at the apartment before he did and waited for him. They then both went upstairs together.

Rodrigues told police she slept on the second floor of the apartment with her son, while Gatti slept on the first floor. She told police she awoke at 6 a.m. to feed her son and discovered her husband's body. Police say he most likely had been killed at least four hours before that.

Teixeira said police do not think anyone else entered the apartment and killed Gatti -- he said there were no signs of forced entry and electronic locks indicated nobody else had entered the room aside from Rodrigues and Gatti.

The investigator said Rodrigues told them she thought her husband had committed suicide or that someone had entered the apartment and killed him. Teixeira ruled out both scenarios.

Rodrigues' sister, Flavia, told the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo there is "no way she could have strangled a man of that size."

Rodrigues' attorney, Celio Avelino, told the AP he agreed with Flavia's conclusion and he would request Amanda be freed from jail Tuesday pending the conclusion of the investigation.

"She is fragile, young and skinny -- how could she kill a boxing champion?" Avelino said. "When she awoke, she presumed he had committed suicide. But she had nothing to do with it."

Flavia Rodrigues said her sister told her she thought Gatti had committed suicide -- though she said he knew of no reason the boxer would kill himself or why the pair fought the night before his death.

"Sure, they had fights," Flavia said. "But he was crazy about her."

The sister told Recife's TV Jornal news station that "Amanda told us she didn't kill Arturo, and we believe her."

"My sister, like us, is very religious and would be incapable of killing anyone," Flavia said. "She found him already dead. It's up to the police to discover what happened in the flat."

The pair married in 2007 and according to Rodrigues had a rocky relationship. Authorities were told the couple was extremely jealous of each other and that Gatti constantly complained about her clothing when she traveled to Brazil, police spokeswoman Milena Saraiva said.

According to Brazilian law, police accuse a person of a crime but it is up to the prosecutor to formally file a charge. Teixeira said police have until July 22 to deliver their findings to the prosecutor's office, but he hoped the investigation would be completed before then.

Rodrigues was accused of the crime Sunday and taken into police custody. She has been transferred to a woman's prison in the state capital Recife. She maintains her innocence.

Gatti, Rodrigues and their 10-month-old son arrived in Brazil on Friday for what they told a local real estate agent was a second honeymoon. The baby, who was unhurt, is now with Rodrigues' family in Brazil.

Gatti, a Canadian, fought an epic trilogy with Micky Ward that branded him one of the most exciting fighters of his generation. HBO said Monday it will re-air the three fights Friday and Saturday.

Gatti retired in 2007 with a career record of 40-9 and 31 knockouts. Known for his straightforward punching and granitelike chin, Gatti captured the super featherweight title in 1995, when he defeated Tracy Harris Patterson at Madison Square Garden in New York. He won the junior welterweight title in 2004.

At a news conference Monday announcing a super middleweight tournament at Madison Square Garden, there was a moment of silence in his honor.

"I had the opportunity to represent Arturo when I worked for Main Events," promoter Gary Shaw told The Associated Press. "If there's anybody with a great personality and was a special type of person, it was Arturo Gatti."

[Marvo301]

Arturo Gatti

[catlover79]

That is indeed a sad story. First Steve McNair, now Arturo Gatti. What a shame. May he .