Canadian former World Welterweight Champion Arturo Gatti has reportedly died.
According to the officials in the public safety department, Gatti was found dead by his wife Amanda in the Brazilian city of Pernambuco where the couple was celebrating their honeymoon with their one-year old son.
Amanda Gatti reportedly awoke to her husband laying dead on the floor of a condo that the pair had rented in Northeast Brazil. Gatti reportedly had marks on his neck and head that were made with a blunt instrument. Brazilian authorities are investigating the suspected homicide.
Gatti was 37 years old.
A spokeswoman for the public safety department of Pernambuco released the following statement:
"There were no bullet or stab wounds on his body, but police did find blood stains on the floor," she said, adding that his wife and son were unhurt.
No further details were provided as the spokeswoman stated that she was not authorized to comment on the case.
Born in Italy, Gatti moved to Montreal at a young age and turned pro June 10th 1991, scoring a TKO over Jose Gonzalez.
Gatti captured his first professional title on June 28th 1994 by defeating Pete Taliaferro for the USBA junior lightweight crown.
On June 15th 1995 Gatti earned his first world title in a unanimous decision over Tracy Patterson to capture the IBF Junior lightweight title. Gatti would defend that title in 1996 against Wilson Rodriguez in a tilt that would earn "1996 Fight of the Year" honours as Gatti protected his title.
Gatti would earn Fight of the Year honours once again in 1997 thanks to his memorable bout with Gabriel Ruelas that saw Gatti persevere for a fifth round TKO.
After relinquishing his title to move up in weight-class, a Gatti scrap was once again was selected as Fight of the Year in a 10-round loss to Ivan Robinson. Despite the loss, Gatti's reputation had grown so much that he earned a shot at the biggest fight of his career against one of the sport's biggest stars, 'the Golden Boy' Oscar de La Hoya.
Although Gatti lost the bout, he earned the respect of fight fans around the world by going toe-to-toe with one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world.
In 2002, Gatti found his foil in 'Irish' Mickey Ward, a tough-as-nails scrapper who would bring out the best in Gatti. The pair staged three of the most memorable fights in recent memory as the two-gladiators appeared to re-enact the climatic scene of a fictional boxing movie where the protagonists exchange haymakers until nothing is left of their opponent. As the New York Post's boxing writer Lenn Robins stated: "It wasn't a trilogy, it was a thrill-ogy."
The notoriety earned from the Gatti/Ward trilogy turned Gatti's title shot against Gianluca Branco a must-see event. Gatti sealed the deal with a 10th round KO to capture the WBC Super Lightweight crown.
Gatti dropped his titles to Floyd Mayweather Jr. on June 25th 2005, suffering his worst-ever defeat by throwing in the towel in the sixth round.
Following a loss to Alfonso Gomez in 2007, Gatti announced his retirement from boxing with a record of 40 wins and nine losses.
http://tsn.ca/boxing/story/?id=284455
