 Gatti on 24 November 2002 |
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| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Arturo Gatti |
| Nickname(s) | Thunder |
| Rated at | Welterweight, Lightweight |
| Nationality |  Canadian |
| Birth date | April 15, 1972 |
| Birth place | Calabria, Italy |
| Death date | July 11, 2009 (aged 37) |
| Death place | Ipojuca, state of Pernambuco, Brazil |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 49 |
| Wins | 40 |
| Wins by KO | 31 |
| Losses | 9 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Arturo "Thunder" Gatti (April 15, 1972 – July 11, 2009) was a Canadian professional boxer.[1][2][3] Born in Calabria, Italy,[4][2] and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Gatti relocated to Jersey City, New Jersey, as a teenager. He returned to Montreal after retiring from boxing to work in real estate.[5][6]
Gatti participated in 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.[7]
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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][8] He began boxing professionally on the night of June 10, 1991, with a third round knockout of Jose Gonzalez in Secaucus, New Jersey. He went undefeated for six bouts before losing to King Solomon by split decision in six rounds on 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 win over Pete Taliaferro to win the USBA super featherweight title, by a knockout in round one. He retained the title against Richard Salazar and former world champion Jose Sanabria.
On December 15, 1995, Gatti challenged the IBF's world super featherweight champion, Floyd Patterson's adoptive son Tracy Harris Patterson. 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 five 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 round seven 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.
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 decisions in 10 rounds to Ivan Robinson. 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.
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.[9] 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.
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 junior 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 garnered "fight of the year" honors by Ring Magazineand the 9th round was considered by many as Round of the Century.
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. He fought nearly one-handed for several rounds afterward, using his right sparingly. 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. Gatti then recovered again and was never in trouble after that. The final scorecards read, 96–93 (twice), and 97–92, in favor of Gatti. The third fight between the two was again named "fight of the year" by Ring Magazine.
On January 24, 2004, Gatti also 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 junior welterweight title.
On July 24, 2004, he knocked out the previously unbeaten former world champion Leonard Dorin in two rounds at Atlantic City, to retain his title. It should be noted that Dorin was dropped with one single body shot.
Gatti's second defense of his WBC title came against former world junior lightweight champion Jesse James Leija on January 29, 2005. Gatti beat Leija by a fifth round knockout.
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 became a champion in 3 different weight divisions.
On July 22, 2006, Gatti lost by a TKO Carlos Baldomir vying for the world 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".
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 Decarie (19–0), the Canadian and North American Boxing Organization champion.[10]
On July 11, 2009, Gatti was found dead in a hotel in Ipojuca, Pernambuco, Brazil, where Gatti was on vacation with his Brazilian wife, Amanda Rodrigues, and their 10 month old son.[7][6][11] Gatti's widow was charged with first degree murder after the strap of her purse was found stained with blood. Gatti was to attend his sister's wedding the same day.[12] 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.[13] On July 30, 2009, it was reported that the Brazilian police ruled Gatti's death as a suicide and his widow was released.[14][15] However, on July 31, 2009, it was announced that the Canadian government would be seeking more information from Brazilian authorities on Gatti's death. Gatti's family has also confirmed that there will be a second autopsy done in Quebec.[16] 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. Montreal medical examiners will perform further toxicology tests in Canada and are also awaiting more information on the scene of death from investigators in Brazil. "There were definite injuries that had not been seen by Brazilian authorities," Baden said.[17]
| Preceded by Tracy Harris Patterson |
IBF Super Featherweight Champion December 15, 1995 – 1997 vacated |
Succeeded by Roberto Garcia |
| Preceded by Kostya Tszyu Stripped |
WBC Light Welterweight Champion January 24, 2004 – June 25, 2005 |
Succeeded by Floyd Mayweather Jr. |
NALLEGE was here
Arturo "Thunder" Gatti (born April 15, 1972 - July 11, 2009)) is a former Canadian professional boxer. Gatti was born in Italy.Gatti was considered by many boxing experts and fans alike to be one of the most exciting boxers of the modern day. He has participated in Ring Magazine's "fight of the year" a total of four times (1997, 1998, 2002, & 2003).
   | Official website - Arturo "Thunder" Gatti - The Official Web Site |
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