Arturo Gatti

Arturo Gatti
Gatti in 2002
Statistics
Nickname(s)	Thunder Blood and Guts Warrior The Human Highlight Reel
Rated at	Super featherweight Lightweight Light welterweight Welterweight
Height	5 ft 7 ^1⁄2 in (1.71 m)
Reach	70 in (178 cm)
Nationality	Italian Canadian
Born	April 15, 1972 Cassino, Italy
Died	July 11, 2009 (aged 37) Ipojuca, State of Pernambuco, Brazil
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	49
Wins	40
Wins by KO	31
Losses	9

Arturo Gatti (April 15, 1972 – July 11, 2009) was an Italian Canadian professional boxer.^[1][2][3] Nicknamed "Thunder", Gatti was known for his heart and bravery in the ring, and also carried exceptional punching power.

Gatti won world championships designated by two different boxing sanctioning bodies in two different weight classes. He also participated in The Ring magazine's "Fight of the Year" a total of four times (1997, 1998, 2002, and 2003). He announced his retirement on July 14, 2007.^[4][5] On December 10, 2012, Gatti was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, in his first year of eligibility. He became the 10th Canadian boxer to be inducted into the IBHOF.^[6]

Born in Cassino, Italy and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada,^[7] Gatti relocated to Jersey City, New Jersey as a teenager. He returned to Montreal after retiring from boxing to work in real estate.^[8][9]

Professional career

Arturo Gatti was a member of the Canadian National team, and was training to represent Canada at the 1992 Summer Games, but at age 19 (in 1991), he decided to turn pro instead.^[2][10] He began boxing professionally on the night of November 17, 1992.

His next fight, on March 24, 1993, was his first fight abroad, where he visited Amsterdam, Netherlands and knocked out Plawen Goutchev in round one.

In 1994, he beat Leon Bostic, and followed through with a Round 1 knockout over Pete Taliaferro to win the USBA Super Featherweight title. He retained the title against Richard Salazar and former world champion Jose Sanabria.

Signing with HBO

On December 15, 1995, Gatti challenged the IBF Super Featherweight Champion Tracy Harris Patterson, Floyd Patterson's adoptive son. Gatti became world champion when he narrowly outpointed Patterson (scoring: 116–111, 115–112, 114–113) and signed a multi-fight deal with HBO to fight on HBO Boxing.

He only had two fights in 1996, once defending his world title. His title defense, at Madison Square Garden against Dominican Wilson Rodriguez was the first of three Gatti fights in a row to be named a candidate for "Fight of the Year" by Ring Magazine. Dropped in round two and with his right eye closing fast, Gatti knocked Rodriguez down in round six with a left hook to the body, before finishing him off in round six to retain the title.

In 1997, he again won a points victory over Patterson, but this time by a larger margin (118–108, 117–109, 116–110). He then scored a technical knockout over former world champion Calvin Grove in the seventh round of a non-title affair. Then came his defense against former world champion Gabriel Ruelas, which was also named "Fight of the Year" by Ring Magazine. Rocked by a left uppercut in the fourth, Gatti absorbed more than 15 consecutive punches before being saved by the bell. In the fifth, he connected on a left hook to knock Ruelas out.

To the lightweight division

After that fight, Gatti relinquished the world title, going up in weight to the lightweight division. However, 1998 was a bad year for Gatti, as he lost all three of his fights that year. He lost by a technical knockout in round eight to Angel Manfredy, and then lost a pair of close 10 round decisions to Ivan Robinson, the first by split decision, the second by unanimous. In Gatti-Robinson II, Gatti had a point deducted in the eighth round for low blows. Had the point not been deducted, the fight would have been a draw, as Robinson was only ahead by one point on two scorecards.^[11] Gatti-Robinson I was chosen "Fight of the Year" by Ring Magazine, thus marking the second year in a row that a Gatti fight was given that award and the third year in a row a Gatti fight was nominated.

He only had one fight in 1999, knocking out Reyes Munoz in round one.

Controversial fight against Gamache

Gatti's first fight of 2000 proved to be controversial. Faced with former world champion Joey Gamache, Gatti won by a knockout in round two. A subsequent lawsuit by Gamache's handlers claimed Gatti had gained 19 pounds since the weigh-in the day before and thus had a large advantage over Gamache.^[12] In the wake of the fight, boxing regulators pushed for a new law limiting the amount of weight a competitor can gain between the weigh-in and time of the fight. Gatti was also accused by Gamache's handlers of not having actually made the contracted weight of 141 pounds. After Gatti-Gamache, some boxing commissions started weighing boxers a second time.

Gatti also won his two other fights that year, against Eric Jukabuwski and Joe Hutchinson.

Trilogy against Micky Ward

Gatti at the post-fight press conference on June 7, 2003

In 2001, Gatti only had one fight, going up in weight to meet welterweight Oscar De La Hoya, who beat him by a technical knockout in five rounds. In 2002, Gatti returned to the light welterweight division and defeated former world champion Terronn Millett by a knockout in round four.

He then split two ten round decisions with "Irish" Micky Ward, losing their first bout, but winning their second. Gatti-Ward I also earned "Fight of the Year" honors by Ring Magazine and the 9th round was called the Round of the Century by Emanuel Steward.

On June 7, 2003, he and Ward had a rubber match. Gatti broke his twice-repaired right hand on an uppercut to the hip in the fourth, and he dropped his arm. In the sixth, Gatti dominated the round but got caught with an overhand right to the top of the head a second before the bell rang and went down. The final scorecards read, 96–93, 96–93 and 97–92, in favor of Gatti. The third fight between the two was again named "Fight of the Year" by Ring Magazine.

Gatti vs Ward I & III are also part of HBO's 10 best fights of the decade.

Career after Micky Ward

On January 24, 2004, Gatti, having recovered from a broken hand, scored a tenth round knock-down and defeated Gianluca Branco of Italy by a 12 round unanimous decision to win the vacant WBC Light Welterweight title.

On July 24, 2004, he knocked out the previously unbeaten former world champion Leonard Dorin Doroftei in two rounds at Atlantic City, to retain his title.

Gatti's second defense of his WBC title came against former WBC Super Featherweight Champion Jesse James Leija on January 29, 2005. Gatti beat Leija by a fifth round knockout. That same night, Arturo's protégé, Danny "Little Mac" McDermott, won his pro debut.

In his next fight, Gatti fought former Super Featherweight and Lightweight World Champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. on June 25, 2005. He took a horrific beating and Gatti's corner man threw in the towel after he was beaten around the ring, thus ending his title reign via sixth-round technical knockout.

After the loss to Mayweather, Gatti moved up to the welterweight division. He beat Thomas Damgaard on January 28, 2006, by an eleventh round technical knockout to win the vacant IBA Welterweight title and become a champion in 3 different weight divisions.

On July 22, 2006, Gatti lost by a TKO to Carlos Baldomir, vying for the WBC & The Ring Welterweight Championship. He then broke off his relationship with Buddy McGirt and had a new trainer in Micky Ward.

Gatti attempted a comeback on July 14, 2007, against Alfonso Gomez, only to get TKO'd by Gomez. After the fight, Gatti announced his retirement in the dressing room, reportedly quipping: "I'll be back — as a spectator."

Fighting style

Arturo was an aggressive, all-action fighter, often remembered as a Slugger. Early on in his career, Gatti showed his tremendous punching power as he amassed a large amount of first-round knockouts. Although he had the ability to box many opponents (as shown in the second Micky Ward fight) Gatti would often get into brawls when his opponents were able to take the power and fight back. This is why many of his bouts against good opposition were slug-fests.

Gatti had incredible heart, and an iron chin, shown in the majority of his major fights. He was able to absorb incredible amounts of punishments by fighters such as Wilson Rodriguez, Gabriel Ruelas, Angel Manfredy, Ivan Robinson, Oscar De La Hoya, Micky Ward, Floyd Mayweather and Carlos Baldomir, none of whom could knock him out cold. In the Rodriguez fight he showed off his recuperative abilities as he was close to being stopped under a barrage of shots and in the next round he stopped his opponent.

Oscar De La Hoya, who faced many big punchers from 130 pounds to 160 pounds, says Gatti hit him the hardest out of any fighter.

Post-career

Gatti retired with a record of 40 wins and 9 losses, with 31 wins by knockout. On September 24, 2008, reports had surfaced that Gatti was considering a comeback against Montreal welterweight Antonin Décarie (now 25–1), the Canadian and North American Boxing Organization Champion. On December 10, 2012 Arturo Gatti was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.^[13]

Death

On July 11, 2009, Gatti was found dead in a hotel in Ipojuca, Pernambuco, Brazil, where he was on vacation with his Brazilian wife, Amanda Rodrigues, and their 10-month-old son.^[4][9][14] He was 37 years old. Gatti was to attend his sister's wedding the same day. Gatti's widow was charged with first degree murder after the strap of her purse was found stained with blood.^[15] Rodrigues could not explain how she spent more than 10 hours in the hotel room without realizing Gatti was dead. Former boxing champion Acelino Freitas, who was a close friend of Gatti, claimed Gatti and Rodrigues were having problems and were about to separate.^[16] The Brazilian authorities initially ruled Gatti's death a homicide, but after the coroner's autopsy report was released, they declared it was a suicide, and his widow was set free.^[17] On July 31, 2009, it was announced that the Canadian government would be seeking more information from the Brazilian authorities on Gatti's death. Gatti's family confirmed that there would be a second autopsy done in Quebec.^[18][19][20] On August 1, a pathologist hired by the ex-boxing champ's family said Brazilian authorities overlooked bruises on Gatti's body in the initial autopsy. "There were definite injuries that had not been seen by Brazilian authorities," Baden said.^[21] Almost a year later, in March 2010, the circumstances concerning Gatti's death remained unclear.^[22]

At the family's request, a Quebec coroner agreed to exhume the body so that two pathologists could conduct a second autopsy. Coroner Jean Brochu said, "We've been waiting for this for a long time," and "it's going to take a while" before conclusions can be made, and released to the public.^[22] A shortage of staff at the coroner's office was blamed for contributing to the delay of the investigation.^[22] Regarding a new toxicology report being prepared, Brochu quipped that it "may take a century to get the results."^[22]

The Quebec coroner's report was released in November 2011. Brochu agreed with prior conclusions that Gatti died a violent death from asphyxia by neck constriction. He also noted that Gatti had carisoprodol, a muscle relaxant, in his system, along with alcohol. An expert toxicologist from Quebec retained by the coroner said the drug can produce withdrawal symptoms, such as anxiety, confusion and psychosis. The coroner also stated that "obvious presence of post-mortem lividity" indicated that the body had been suspended for some time before ending up on the floor.^[23]

Professional boxing record

Titles in boxing

Major World Titles:

• IBF Super Featherweight Champion (130 lbs)
• WBC Light Welterweight Champion (140 lbs)

Minor World Titles:

• IBA Welterweight Champion (147 lbs)

Regional/International Titles:

• USBA Super Featherweight Champion (130 lbs)

In popular culture

• Australian hardcore band Toe to Toe named their 2010 album Arturo Gatti.^[25]
• Gatti's death in Brazil, on the day of his sister's wedding in Miami, was the subject of the Murder in Paradise episode "Brazilian Knockout", on the Investigation Discovery channel.^[26]
• Mark Wahlberg's sequel to the movie The Fighter will feature Gatti and his three fights with Micky Ward.
• Gabriele Tinti (writer)'s prose poem about Gatti was read by Michael Imperioli at the Queens Museum of Art in 2011.

References

1. "Canada wants more info about Gatti's death". National Post.
2. "Canadian former boxing champion Gatti found dead in Brazil". TSN. July 11, 2009.
3. "Canadian former boxing champion Gatti found dead in Brazil". CTV News Channel. July 11, 2009.
4. "Boxer Arturo Gatti found dead". CBC News. July 11, 2009.
5. The Other Fighter: Remembering Arturo "Thunder" Gatti
6. "Arturo Gatti inducted into Boxing Hall of Fame". QMI Agency. December 11, 2012.
7. Pothier, Jacques (Feb 2011). Éditions La Presse, ed. Arturo Gatti : Le dernier round (in French). Montreal. ISBN 978-2-923681-52-8. OCLC 701590105.
8. "Arturo Gatti considering return to the ring". The Canadian Press. September 24, 2008.
9. "Foul play suspected in Gatti's death". ESPN. July 11, 2009.
10. "Hard-hitting Arturo Gatti was one of Canada's boxing greats". The Canadian Press. July 11, 2009.
11. http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Arturo_Gatti_vs._Ivan_Robinson_(2nd_meeting)
12. "Boxer suing Gatti". AP. March 3, 2006.
13. "Montreal boxer Arturo Gatti mourned as legend". The Gazette. July 12, 2009.
14. "Lutador de boxe canadense é achado morto em flat em Porto de Galinhas, em Pernambuco" (in Portuguese). O Globo. July 11, 2009.
15. Emert, Harold; Abramson, Mitch; Goldsmith, Samuel (July 12, 2009). "Wife of Gatti Charged With Murder". Daily News.
16. "Police quiz wife of boxer Gatti". BBC News. July 12, 2009.
17. "Arturo Gatti's death ruled a suicide by Brazilian police". NJ.com. July 30, 2009. Retrieved 2015-09-29.
18. "Federal government demands more details on Arturo Gatti's 'suicide'". Vancouver Sun. July 31, 2009.
19. "Brazil police rule Gatti's death suicide". The Associated Press. July 30, 2009.
20. "Boxer Gatti's death ruled suicide". BBC News. July 30, 2009. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
21. Baden: Brazil's investigation incomplete. ESPN via The Associated Press. August 1, 2009
22. Boxing Champ Gatti's Death Remains a Mystery. NY Daily News. March 2010.
23. "Gatti death circumstances uncertain, Quebec coroner says". CBC news. 2011-11-09. Retrieved 2015-09-29.
24. Arturo Gatti's Professional Boxing Record – BoxRec.com
25. Arturo Gatti - Toe To Toe JB Hi-fi. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
26. "Wedding Day Funeral". Murder in Paradise (Investigation Discovery). April 2013.

External links

• Official website
• BoxingInsider.com Bio - file Q&A with Arturo 'Thunder' Gatti
• Breaking News: Arturo "Thunder" Gatti found dead in Brazil early this morning
• Arturo Gatti Grave @ Findagrave
• Arturo Gatti Fight-by-Fight Career Record
• Professional boxing record for Arturo Gatti from BoxRec
• boxen-artur.de – Encyclopedia
• Remembering Arturo Gatti ~ Boxing Hall Of Fame 2013
• Coverage of Gatti's final match
• Dorisol Hotel in Porto de Galinhas (place of death) - Official page
• Datos y curiosidades sobre Arturo Gatti en espanol

Further reading

Cooley, Will. "'Vanilla Thrillas': Modern Boxing and White-Ethnic Masculinity," Journal of Sport and Social Issues 34:4 (November, 2010), 418-437.