you know you dream of fights like this but very seldom to they live up to the expectation this is even more than you could’ve dreamed of.
Those are the words of hall of fame trainer and HBO analyst Emmanuel Stewart during round nine of Arturo Gatti’s first bloody war with Micky Ward which still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when watching it now.
Gatti prepares to fight Jesse James Leija (Jan 25th 2005)
While outside the ring the circumstances surrounding Arturo Gatti’s death on July 11th 2009 remain unclear inside the ring the facts about who Arturo was as a fighter were there for all to see. Arturo “Thunder” Gatti was a warrior that left it all in the ring every time he stepped foot in it. It was fitting that Gatti would often come down to “The Eye of the Tiger” he was indeed the real living and breathing Rocky Balboa.
His heart and will were constantly on display and his trilogy with “Irish” Mickey Ward is cemented as one of the greatest in history. Arturo was the kind of fighter that fight fans dream of, a guy willing to literally risk his life for that sweet taste of victory.
If you are familiar with Arturo Gatti then you already know all of this. And perhaps the most disturbing and puzzling thing about Arturo’s supposed suicide is that it begged the question: how can a man so brave, so determined, so courageous take his own life in what is often seen as an easy way or the cowards’ way out of this life?
It has left many a fight fan baffled as it has his familiar members who simply can’t conceive, as we find it hard to, that Arturo would choose to take his own life.
In HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel Gatti’s death, along with two other boxers that passed away within months of each other Vernon Forrest and Alexis Aguello, was examined but left way more questions than answers.
It was said that Gatti hung himself by using a purse strap however the bruises that Gatti had over his body suggested maybe that something else had happened. Arturo’s wife Amanda Rodrigues was arrested and initially thought to have killed Gatti but she was later released and now has control of Gatti’s estate.
But let’s leave the murky details of the death alone for a minute and remember one of the most courageous fighters to ever lace them up.
Among Gatti’s many memorable fights for me the night the legend of Gatti was born was in 1996 against Wilson Rodriguez. In what turned out to be almost a blueprint of how Arturo would go on to fight many epic battles. Gatti with eyes swelling and blood streaming was being out boxed by Rodriguez but then went on to provide one of the greatest comebacks in the recent times and knocked him out with a monstrous left hook in the sixth round to retain the IBF super featherweight title he had won from Tracy Harris Patterson one fight before in Madison Square Garden, New York City.
His fight with Gabriel Ruelas was an unofficial fight of the year in 1996 and his first fight with Ivan Robinson won him Ring Magazine’s fight of the year in 1997.
Despite three back to back losses this did little to reduce Gatti’s stock as by this stage he was a television networks dream anything could and usually did happen in a Gatti fight.
In what was almost a reward for all the great fights he had already given us HBO provided Gatti with his biggest purse yet a reported $1.8 million to face the “Golden Boy” and face of the sport Oscar De La Hoya. It was a mismatch that wound up a TKO victory for Oscar, Gatti was meant to disappear into the sunset with his million and say thank you very much but that wasn’t who Arturo was.
Determined to show the world he had more to offer he teamed up with trainer and former boxer Buddy McGirt who transformed Gatti (or maybe just brought him back to what he was in the beginning) into a boxer puncher. His defense became the focus, how to hit and not be hit and after three epic fights with Mickey Ward, whom he would later become great friends with, earned his shot at a title once more and defeated Gianluca Branco for the vacant WBC light welterweight title.
On the 25th June 2005 he lost the title to Floyd Mayweather Jr and would never regain it. After defeating Thomas Damgaard for the vacant IBA welterweight title he challenged Carlos Baldomir who had just won the WBC welterweight title from Zab Judah in one of the sports biggest upsets. Gatti lost that fight and then lost to Alfonso Gomez, a sign that Gatti’s best days were far behind him and he bowed out gracefully.
Arturo’s brother Fabrizo remains adamant that his death was not a suicide
“For his kids, growing up, I don’t want them to think, ‘My father is a coward who left me to grow up all alone,’” an anguished Fabrizio Gatti told the Daily News. “I’m going to find a way to prove it, that he didn’t kill himself.”
Free as a bird: Arturo's wife walks free after being suspected of his death.
In a second autopsy it was revealed that Gatti had his adam’s apple broken which is more common in cases of strangulation rather than hanging. Also the marks on the neck don’t match up with what the Brazilian authorities said was used to kill Gatti, the bloody purse strap. The wounds to the back of Gatti’s head were said to have been caused by rocks which were thrown at him while he was fighting with his wife at a Pizzeria near their hotel. It was said that Gatti was drunk and being physically abusive.
Assuming there is more to the story whether it will ever come to light remains to be seen. What we know about Arturo was provided inside the ring not out. As a man we saw his darkest moments, times when we thought for sure he was down and out. But every time you thought this you were instantly reminded of his courage, his will and his heart that he will fight to the death if need be and never ever would he lay down for anyone.
God bless you Arturo for all that you gave us and may you rest in peace
We will never forget “Thunder” Gatti as long as we live.
