Boxer Brought Down by a Purse Strap

Former world boxing champion Arturo Gatti was found dead Saturday in his vacation apartment or room (the reports vary) in Brazil. The retired Canadian boxer from Montreal, who survived a boxing career with 40 wins and 31 knockouts did not survive - a purse strap. According to Brazilian Police, the 37 year old boxer was strangled to death by the strap of purse belonging to his 23 year old wife Amanda Rodrigues Gatti, a Brazilian stripper.

The Police say Amanda, who had accused Gatti of assault earlier in the year, strangled her husband after a night of drinking and fighting. Four months earlier Arturo Gatti was arrested when Ms. Rodrigues called 911 to say he hit her. Gatti was ordered to stay 200 meters away from her, not to consume alcohol, and not to have any weapons. Apparently, Amanda Rodrigues decided to "forgive and forget", reconciled with Gatti and they headed off to Brazil on a "second honeymoon" (although I could find no reference to a marriage or a prior honeymoon). Amanda Rodrigues Catti is at this time the only suspect according to police yet they are still looking into the possibility of a third person who may have committed the crime she says she had no involvement in.

The internet of course is buzzing with various stories and opinions concerning Arturo Gatti's murder. Gatti was scheduled to testify next week in New York in a lawsuit brought against the New York State Athletic Commission by Joey Gamache who suffered a severe knockout loss to Gatti in 2000. After the knockout it was found there was an 18lb difference between the two boxers which should have put them into a different weight class. There are those who think his death may have been connected but Amanda's problems start with her inability to tell Police how she and their 10 month old son managed to be in the apartment/room for 10 hours before discovering her husbands body and the other discrepancies in her story.

If it is found Ms. Rodrigues Catti was indeed the one who committed the murder, the defense will almost certainly use assault and battery by the husband as a defense for murder even though if the ex world champion boxer was so intoxicated (as reported by those who saw the couple the prior night) that he could not fight back while being strangled by a woman - he obviously would have been in no condition to do her any harm either. I would assume Ms. Rodrigues would have had plenty of opportunity to exit the apartment or to call for assistance.

On the other side of a murder case, if I were the prosecutor, I would also look towards the possibility of premeditation. A mere three months prior a restraining order was issued against Catti on the accusations of abuse towards his wife/girlfriend, yet now, the couple are "reunited" and on a trip to Ms. Rodrigues' home country where Gatti ends up dead and the murder weapon is-a purse- he most likely supplied his ex stripper wife with. Was he lured to Brazil to be murdered by his wife or by someone the wife was a willing accomplice of? Do you take your ten month old baby on your "second honeymoon"...or does that indicate an intention to stay in Brazil? As with any murder, many questions arise, some which will be answered and some which never will. Personally, I always liked to watch Arturo Gatti fight, he provided great entertainment in the ring and I am sad he died without having an opportunity to raise his son and enjoy his retirement from the ring.

By all reports, Gatti had a penchant, or an addiction, for strip clubs and strippers. It is almost ironic he may have met his end, not from an ill placed punch - but from a stripper and her purse, dying in a around about way from his addiction just as do many addicts each and every day.

I found amusing the descriptions of the rather ordinary looking Rodrigues Gatti in an article on the Daily News written by Harold Emert, Mitch Abramson, and Samuel Goldsmith. " Sexy stripper wife", "The stunner's eyes", "white top that showed off the toned physique", "busty bombshell's purse", "detained the tight-bodied beauty" - all in one article. And we wonder how a famous, world champion boxer could end up murdered by a purse strap?! Wake up boys! Your article shows exactly how even the greatest of men can be brought down by leaving their brains in a dollar bill stuffed into an itsy, bitsy little thong! (Figuratively and literally)

Sources:

Daily News
Daily Press
CBC News
Now Boxing