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Offline capodetutticapi

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Former boxing champ Gatti found dead
« on: July 11, 2009, 08:27:58 PM »
Former boxing champ Gatti found dead in BrazilAssociated Press
SAO PAULO (AP) - Former boxing champion Arturo Gatti, whose epic trilogy with Micky Ward branded him one of the most exciting fighters of his generation, was found dead in a hotel room in the posh seaside resort of Porto de Galihnas early Saturday.

Police investigator Edilson Alves told The Associated Press that the body of the former junior welterweight champ was discovered in his room at the tourist resort, where Gatti had arrived on Friday with his Brazilian wife Amanda and 1-year-old son.

Gatti through the years Photos: Arturo Gatti was one of the most exciting and courageous fighters of his era. Take a look at his storied career. 
Alves said police were investigating and it was unclear how the 37-year-old Canadian died.

"It is still too early to say anything concrete, although it is all very strange," Alves said. He declined to provide any additional details.

A spokeswoman for the state public safety department said Gatti's wife and son were unhurt. The woman declined to give a name in keeping with department policy.

"There were no bullet or stab wounds on his body, but police did find blood stains on the floor," she said.

Brazilian boxer and four-time world champion Acelino "Popo" Freitas told the G1 Web site of Brazil's largest TV network Globo that he was a close friend of Gatti and his wife, and that he "knew they were having some sort of problem and were about to separate."

Known for his straightforward punching and granite-like chin, Gatti captured the junior welterweight title in 1995, when he defeated Tracy Harris Patterson in Atlantic City, N.J. His brawling style and natural charisma made him a fan favorite, and he became one of New Jersey's adopted sons while fighting some of his most memorable battles on the Boardwalk.

"I never saw a crowd show so much love for someone like the way that the crowds flocked to Arturo's fights in Atlantic City," said referee Randy Neumann, who officiated Gatti's last fight against Alfonso Gomez two years ago. "I mean, they were so into him and the crowds were electric. He just fought his heart out every fight."

 
Arturo Gatti was 40-9 with 31 KOs in his career. (Al Bello / Getty Images)

Gatti continued to keep a home in New Jersey after he retired in 2007, with a career record of 40-9 and 31 knockouts.

"His entire boxing career he fought with us, we've known him since he was 17," Kathy Duva of promoter Main Events told The Associated Press. "It's just an unspeakable tragedy. I can't even find words. It's a horror."

Gatti defended his title three times before moving up in weight and getting stopped by Angel Manfredy in 1997. He lost twice more before running off four straight wins, setting up a big payday against Oscar De La Hoya.

Although Gatti was knocked out in the fifth round of a lopsided fight, his almost cult-like following never wavered in its support.

"He just captured the imagination of so many people," Duva said. "We used to joke it was a crowd like the Grateful Dead's, it was the same people every time."

Gatti would later lose to big names like Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Carlos Baldomir, but it was his three-fight series against Ward that left an indelible impression on fight fans.

The first time they met, in May 2002, the 140-pounders traded devastating blows for 10 rounds before leaving it up to the judges to decide a winner. Ward earned the mixed decision, by one point on one scorecard and two points on another, in what Ring Magazine called "Fight of the Year."

The rematch was just as brutal, with Gatti knocking Ward down in the third round with a big right. Ward not only recovered from the blow, which broke Gatti's hand, but managed to go the distance. This time, Gatti earned a clear unanimous decision.

Gatti and Ward had their rubber match at Boardwalk Hall in June 2003, and it was again called "Fight of the Year" by Ring Magazine. Ward knocked Gatti to the floor in the sixth round, but despite fighting with his right hand broken again, Gatti managed to win the decision.

"I was sitting him at the post-fight press conference - I can't remember which one - and I looked at his hand and it was three times the normal size," Duva said. "He gave me this goofy grin and he said, 'Yeah, I know. We'll party tonight and I'll go to the hospital tomorrow."'

Gatti attempted a comeback in July 2007, getting knocked out in seven rounds by Gomez. Afterward, with his legion of fans cheering for him in the arena, Gatti announced his retirement in the dressing room at Boardwalk Hall.

Neumann said it was tough for him to end that fight, simply because of Gatti's incredible ability to come back in fights.

"I couldn't stop that fight, simply because he was Arturo Gatti," Neumann said. "He was much more dignified to go out that way. He had to be counted out. When he fought, you never knew if he could come back. He looked beaten and still came back."

With that loss, Gatti acknowledged the end of all his travails and triumphs.

"I remember walking away from his last fight, and somebody walked up to him in the casino late at night and congratulated him," Duva said. "And he said, 'Why did he congratulate me?' And I said, 'He was excited to meet you.' And he kind of looked very surprised by that.

"He had no idea what an icon he was or how much he meant to people."
soon ah go b ah lean mean bulling machine.

Offline capodetutticapi

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Re: Former boxing champ Gatti found dead
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2009, 09:26:38 PM »
now they callin it ah suicide.
soon ah go b ah lean mean bulling machine.

Offline capodetutticapi

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Re: Former boxing champ Gatti found dead
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2009, 12:00:38 PM »
Brazil police: Gatti hung himself with bag strapAssociated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - Arturo Gatti hanged himself with a handbag strap from a staircase column more than seven feet off the ground, Brazilian police said Friday as they released new details about the boxer's death.


Milena Saraiva, a police spokeswoman in the northeastern city of Recife, provided more information about Gatti's suicide a day after authorities reversed their stance on the case. Until Thursday, they insisted it was a homicide and the boxer's wife was tagged as the primary suspect.

"This case has been resolved. While the evidence at the scene first led us to think Gatti was murdered, the autopsy results and a detailed crime scene analysis simply pointed to a different outcome," Saraiva said.

On Thursday, a judge ordered the release of Gatti's wife, 23-year-old Amanda Rodrigues, who had been held since July 12 in Recife. She and Gatti arrived with their 10-month-old son a few days before in the resort town of Porto de Galinhas, where they rented a two-level apartment.

Police ultimately concluded that Gatti hanged himself in the apartment early on July 11 from a wooden staircase column that was 7.3 feet off the ground. He stood on a stool and kicked it out from underneath him, police said. The autopsy report said Gatti was suspended for about three hours before his body fell to the floor.

Rodrigues said she was sleeping with the pair's son in an upstairs bedroom. She told police she went downstairs about 6 a.m. to get milk for the boy and saw Gatti's body on the floor, but assumed he was drunkenly sleeping. It was not until she went back downstairs at 9 a.m. that she discovered Gatti was dead and called police. Saraiva said no suicide note was found.

"The first investigators to arrive at the scene only saw his body on the floor and the bloodied strap near his body," Saraiva said. "They assumed his wife strangled him."
 
Saraiva said 17 witnesses told police that the pair got into a loud fight on a street near the beach in Porto de Galinhas the night before Gatti died. Saraiva said Gatti had seven cans of beer, along with two bottles of wine, over the course of dinner and partying at a bar.

Witnesses told police Gatti at one point picked up Rodrigues, who weighs about 100 pounds, by her chin with his right hand and tossed her to the ground.

Saraiva said at that point a security guard for a local hotel intervened, only to be punched in the face by Gatti. A small crowd that had gathered around the scene grew angry, with some throwing stones and even a bicycle at the boxer, the police spokeswoman said.

One stone hit Gatti in the back of the head, causing a wound that police originally said was caused by a small steak knife that was found near his body - and which police showed off to reporters the day after Gatti's death.

The fracas eventually broke up, and Gatti and Rodrigues returned to the apartment in separate taxis.

In an telephone interview with The Associated Press as she walked out of jail Thursday, Rodrigues said Gatti may have killed himself because he feared she would leave him after their fight, one of many during a rocky two-year marriage.

"I believe that when we got home and he saw that he hurt me, he thought I would leave him, that I would tell him to just let me go, that I would separate from him," she said. "He did that in a moment of weakness. He was drunk, maybe he didn't know what he was doing, maybe he thought I would leave him the next day."

According to records at the Court of Quebec's criminal and penal division, Gatti was charged on April 16 for violating a restraining order that had been filed against him. Records didn't indicate who filed the restraining order, but Gatti's mother, Ida, confirmed it was Rodrigues who had taken one out against him.

Gatti, a Canadian who captured two world titles in his 16-year pro career, retired in 2007 with a record of 40-9.

Many of his friends and family have expressed disbelief at the suicide ruling, and Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said in a statement Friday that government officials will seek more information from Brazilian authorities on the Gatti investigation and its findings.
soon ah go b ah lean mean bulling machine.

 

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