Arturo "Thunder" Gatti Dead at 37

Retired Boxer Arturo "Thunder" Gatti has been found dead in a condo he was renting in Pernambuco, Brazil on Saturday. Police are investigating and there is a good possibility of homicide. Gatti appeared to be struck with some sort of object to the back of his head. His wife found him after she woke up. Gatti arrived in Brazil with his wife and 10-month-old baby on Friday and they were on their honeymoon.

Gatti was born in Italy but he moved to Canada with his parents when he was young. At the young age of 19, he began boxing professionally. He would win his first six bouts before losing his first fight to King Soloman by split decision. Gatti would rebound with 17 consecutive victories and would fight on HBO for the first time and compete for his first major belt against Tracy Harris Patterson. Gatti would beat Patterson by close decision. After the victory, Gatti signed a multi-fight deal with HBO.

Gatti was known as a "Blood and Guts Warrior" who was never out of a fight because of his punching power. This was proven in Gatti's next fight against Wilson Rodriguez. After getting knocked down in round two for the first time in his career, being cut over both eyes, doctor threatening to stop the fight and losing a point for a low blow, Gatti came back to knock down Rodriguez in the fifth round with a hook to the body, and finish him with a perfect left hook in the sixth. Rodriguez was on the canvas for more than a minute. This win gave Gatti notoriety and he became an instant fan-favorite.

After winning a few more fights, including a rematch with Patterson, Gatti would face Gabriel Ruelas, who had a record of 44-3 at the time. Gatti was rocked and badly hurt by an uppercut in round four, and took more than 15 unanswered punches before being saved by the bell. In the next round, Gatti would come back and knock out Ruelas. The fight would be named "Fight of the Year" by Ring Magazine.

1998 was a bad year for Arturo Gatti. He would suffer the second loss of his career against Angel Manfredy, after he was dominated, fight stopping in the eight round because of a Gatti cut. He would have two brawls with Ivan Robinson, both times coming up short, losing very close decisions. Gatti finished the year 0-3.

Gatti would put together another string of victories before moving up in weight and fighting Oscar De La Hoya in 2001. This was a total mis-match as De La Hoya punished Gatti before knocking him out in the fifth round. Gatti would rebound nicely with a crushing fourth round TKO over contender Terron Millett.

Gatti is perhaps best known for his first fight and trilogy with Micky Ward. The first fight between Gatti and Ward is sometimes called the "Fight of the Millenium" and some people say it's the greatest fight of all time. It was an all-out brawl for every single round before Gatti would be knocked down in the ninth round by a left hook to the body. Gatti got up at the count of 9, visibly hurt. He took more punishment and it looked like he was out on his feet. But Gatti came back at the end of the round to hurt Ward and had Ward in bad trouble. They fought until the final bell, with Ward winning a majority decision. In their second and third fights, Gatti adopted the strategy of boxing, instead of brawling, and won two wide unanimous decisions. Gatti lost the first fight, but finished the trilogy up 2-1. Ever since the trilogy, Gatti and Ward have been good friends.

This would be the resurrection of Gatti's career. Gatti would win the vacant WBC light welterweight title over previously unbeaten Gianluca Bronco. Branco was knocked down in the tenth round and lost a clear unanimous decision. Gatti would next fight another undefeated fighter in Leonard Dorin. Dorin would suffer the first loss of his career after getting knocked out in the second round with a single left hook to the body. Gatti made the second defense of his title against veteran Jesse James Leija, knocking him out in five rounds.

Gatti would lose his next fight to pound-for-pound best Floyd Mayweather, and two fights later, lost to Carlos Baldimir. Gatti announced his retirement on July 14, 2007 after getting knocked out by Alfonso Gomez in seven rounds. Gatti lost his last two fights and three of his last four overall. Gatti finished his career with an impressive record of 40 wins and 9 losses.

Arturo Gatti was one of the most liked and popular fighters in the world. Gatti was a world champion in 2 weight divisions. All his fights were exciting and he was involved in a total of four "Fight of the Year" fights in 1997, 1998, 2002, and 2003. This comes as shocking news and Gatti will be missed by all.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arturo_Gatti