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Arturo Gatti, Fearless Boxer Known for Relentless Violence, Dies at 37
Arturo Gatti, the former boxing champion whose brutal bouts made him one of the ring’s most exciting figures of the past decade, was found dead Saturday in a hotel room at a Brazilian seaside resort. He was 37.
The Pernambuco state civil police detained Gatti’s Brazilian wife, Amanda Rodrigues, 23, and accused her of killing him, The Associated Press reported Sunday. Gatti was apparently strangled with the strap of a purse and also had a head injury, according to Milena Saraiva, a police spokeswoman. The couple’s 1-year-old son, Arturo Jr., had been in the apartment at Porto de Galinhas, where Gatti and his wife were vacationing, but was unhurt, she said.
Boxing professionally for 16 years, his bouts in Atlantic City becoming a staple of HBO television, Gatti could be counted on for virtually nonstop action leaving both boxers bloody. Known as Thunder for his powerful punches, Gatti won 40 fights, 31 by knockout, and lost 9. He held the International Boxing Federation super featherweight title and the World Boxing Council light welterweight crown.
He was best remembered for three brutal fights with Micky Ward, losing on a decision in May 2002, then winning by decision in November ’02 and June ’03.
Gatti’s trainer, Buddy McGirt, once recalled how in the ninth round of the first fight with Ward, Gatti was doubled over from a punch to the body.
“I saw tears rolling down his eyes,” McGirt said in 2006. “He said, ‘My side hurts, but I’m going to make it through the last round.’ I told him I wasn’t going to let him get hurt, that if I didn’t see some bounce, I was going to stop the fight.’ He got up and started bouncing in the corner. He finished the fight.”
Pat Lynch, Gatti’s manager, said: “After one of his fights against Micky Ward, they were both laying next to each other in the hospital. Arturo looked over at Micky and said, ‘We’ve got to start getting paid more for this.’ ”
Gatti had a simple explanation for his popularity and his endurance. A few days before losing his W.B.C. light welterweight title to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in June 2005, he was asked how he had managed to come back from so many beatings. “Because I’m an animal,” he said, smiling.
Born in Italy in 1972, Gatti fought as an amateur in Canada after settling in Montreal and turned pro in 1991. He won the I.B.F. super featherweight crown in 1995 with a decision over Tracy Patterson, the adopted son of the former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson, then defended the crown three times before moving to a higher weight class. He captured the vacant W.B.C. light welterweight title in 2004 with a decision over Gianluca Branco, then defended it twice before Mayweather stopped him in the sixth round.
Gatti was beaten by the two biggest names he fought. In addition to losing to Mayweather, he was stopped in the fifth round by Oscar De La Hoya in 2001. He retired after being knocked out by Alfonso Gomez in July 2007. He lived in Jersey City and Hoboken, N.J., while he was fighting, then moved back to Montreal.
When Gatti went into his next-to-last fight, in which he was knocked out by Carlos Baldomir in a bid for his W.B.C. welterweight crown, he had fought 19 times on HBO. Only Roy Jones Jr., De La Hoya, Lennox Lewis and Shane Mosley had appeared more often on the network.
“People love to see warriors go to war,” Kery Davis, the senior vice president for programming at HBO Sports, said in 2006. “This is the television business. At the end of the day, we’re about entertainment. He entertains you with his style, with his fists.”
Apart from three bouts with Ward, that “style” stunned viewers in many a fight.
Gabriel Ruelas hit Gatti 17 straight times during Round 4 of their October 1997 fight. A round later, Gatti knocked out Ruelas.
In the first round of a bout with Wilson Rodriguez in March 1996, Gatti’s eyes were badly swollen. In the second round, he was knocked down. But in the fifth round, Gatti knocked down Rodriguez, breaking one of his ribs with a left hook. In the sixth round, Gatti knocked out Rodriguez with another left hook.
Lynch, his manager, said Gatti might not have been frightened by his opponent that day, but he was still highly motivated.
“Arturo bought a BMW before that fight, and I told him not so,” Lynch said. “After the fight, he said to me, ‘Two things went through my mind when I was on the ground. No. 1, Pat Lynch is having a heart attack. No 2, there goes my BMW.’ ”
Arturo Gatti, the former boxing champion whose brutal bouts made him one of the ring’s most exciting figures of the past decade, was found dead Saturday in a hotel room at a Brazilian seaside resort. He was 37.
The Pernambuco state civil police detained Gatti’s Brazilian wife, Amanda Rodrigues, 23, and accused her of killing him, The Associated Press reported Sunday. Gatti was apparently strangled with the strap of a purse and also had a head injury, according to Milena Saraiva, a police spokeswoman. The couple’s 1-year-old son, Arturo Jr., had been in the apartment at Porto de Galinhas, where Gatti and his wife were vacationing, but was unhurt, she said.
Boxing professionally for 16 years, his bouts in Atlantic City becoming a staple of HBO television, Gatti could be counted on for virtually nonstop action leaving both boxers bloody. Known as Thunder for his powerful punches, Gatti won 40 fights, 31 by knockout, and lost 9. He held the International Boxing Federation super featherweight title and the World Boxing Council light welterweight crown.
He was best remembered for three brutal fights with Micky Ward, losing on a decision in May 2002, then winning by decision in November ’02 and June ’03.
Gatti’s trainer, Buddy McGirt, once recalled how in the ninth round of the first fight with Ward, Gatti was doubled over from a punch to the body.
“I saw tears rolling down his eyes,” McGirt said in 2006. “He said, ‘My side hurts, but I’m going to make it through the last round.’ I told him I wasn’t going to let him get hurt, that if I didn’t see some bounce, I was going to stop the fight.’ He got up and started bouncing in the corner. He finished the fight.”
Pat Lynch, Gatti’s manager, said: “After one of his fights against Micky Ward, they were both laying next to each other in the hospital. Arturo looked over at Micky and said, ‘We’ve got to start getting paid more for this.’ ”
Gatti had a simple explanation for his popularity and his endurance. A few days before losing his W.B.C. light welterweight title to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in June 2005, he was asked how he had managed to come back from so many beatings. “Because I’m an animal,” he said, smiling.
Born in Italy in 1972, Gatti fought as an amateur in Canada after settling in Montreal and turned pro in 1991. He won the I.B.F. super featherweight crown in 1995 with a decision over Tracy Patterson, the adopted son of the former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson, then defended the crown three times before moving to a higher weight class. He captured the vacant W.B.C. light welterweight title in 2004 with a decision over Gianluca Branco, then defended it twice before Mayweather stopped him in the sixth round.
Gatti was beaten by the two biggest names he fought. In addition to losing to Mayweather, he was stopped in the fifth round by Oscar De La Hoya in 2001. He retired after being knocked out by Alfonso Gomez in July 2007. He lived in Jersey City and Hoboken, N.J., while he was fighting, then moved back to Montreal.
When Gatti went into his next-to-last fight, in which he was knocked out by Carlos Baldomir in a bid for his W.B.C. welterweight crown, he had fought 19 times on HBO. Only Roy Jones Jr., De La Hoya, Lennox Lewis and Shane Mosley had appeared more often on the network.
“People love to see warriors go to war,” Kery Davis, the senior vice president for programming at HBO Sports, said in 2006. “This is the television business. At the end of the day, we’re about entertainment. He entertains you with his style, with his fists.”
Apart from three bouts with Ward, that “style” stunned viewers in many a fight.
Gabriel Ruelas hit Gatti 17 straight times during Round 4 of their October 1997 fight. A round later, Gatti knocked out Ruelas.
In the first round of a bout with Wilson Rodriguez in March 1996, Gatti’s eyes were badly swollen. In the second round, he was knocked down. But in the fifth round, Gatti knocked down Rodriguez, breaking one of his ribs with a left hook. In the sixth round, Gatti knocked out Rodriguez with another left hook.
Lynch, his manager, said Gatti might not have been frightened by his opponent that day, but he was still highly motivated.
“Arturo bought a BMW before that fight, and I told him not so,” Lynch said. “After the fight, he said to me, ‘Two things went through my mind when I was on the ground. No. 1, Pat Lynch is having a heart attack. No 2, there goes my BMW.’ ”
I saw a number of Gatti's fights, including those epic battles with Micky Ward. He would often look like he was getting his ass kicked, but often came back to win. And even if he didn't, he still made it an exciting fight. One tough competitor. RIP.