The “Rocky Balboa” of Modern Boxing Dead at Age 37

The one-year-old child tried to walk in-between his 37-year-old father and 23-year-old mother grasping both their hands for support as they walked in the warm Brazilian sun. He was trying to hard to learn how to walk so his daddy would be proud of him. Though he was only one-year-old he could tell his mother and father had been arguing lately. His father didn’t approve of the way his mother dressed. His mommy was very pretty, and other men couldn’t help but look at her.

Father, son, and mother walked through the coconut groves toward Merepe beach. He enjoyed the warm white sands beneath his feet, and the scent of the sea. In his youthful eyes, playing in the sand with his mommy and daddy was better than playing with his favorite red bouncy ball with those funny yellow spots all over it. He could not have known that his small little world would be turned upside down that night.

He and his parents had finished dinner and returned to their apartment. Mommy and Daddy had been arguing again. He silently played with his blocks on the floor hoping they would stop. Daddy picked him up and carried him off to bed. Daddy gave him his favorite pacifier, the Thomas the Tank one with the bright red ring, and kissed him goodnight. Mommy came in after and read him his favorite story about the fire flies. He never saw his daddy alive again.

*author’s note: (the above is not based on actual events)

Arturo “Thunder” Gatti was born in Italy on April 15, 1972 and raised in Montreal, Canada. He moved to Jersey City, New Jersey in 1991. He began boxing at the age of eight. Arturo became pro on June 10, 1991. Nicknamed “Thunder”, he won world championships in two different weight classes, 130 pounds and 140 pounds. He announced his retirement on July 14, 2007. After his retirement, he returned to Montreal to work in real estate, but still attended fights, as he did in April for the Timothy Bradley-Kendall Holt junior welterweight unification bout at the Bell Center in Montreal.

Arturo “Thunder” Gatti was found dead in his vacation apartment he and his wife were renting at the Porto de Galinhas resort in northeastern Brazil on July 11, 2009. The former junior welterweight champion had planned to spend one month on vacation in Brazil with his son and wife. Arturo was apparently strangled with the strap of a purse, which was found at the scene with blood stains. He had also sustained a head injury.

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Amanda Rodrigues, his wife since 2007, was accused of the crime Sunday and taken into police custody. She has been transferred to a woman’s prison in the state capital. Rodrigues maintains her innocence. She claims she awoke at 6 am on Saturday to feed their son and found her husband dead. She believes he may have committed suicide, or that someone had broke into their apartment and killed him. Both scenarios have been ruled out.

Flavia Rodrigues, Amanda’s sister, states the couple had fights, but Arturo was crazy about her. She believes that her devoutly religious sister could never have committed such a crime.

The police are hoping to be able to deliver their findings to the prosecutor’s office before the deadline of July 22. According to Brazilian law, the police make the accusation, but the prosecutor’s office files the charge.

Amanda’s attorney, Celio Avelino, believes she could not have strangled a man of Arturo’s size, and he is hoping to have her freed from jail by Tuesday pending the conclusion of the investigation.

The couples one-year-old son was not harmed. He is now in the custody of the Rodrigues family.

“There was a real bond between us. It’s why hearing this, hearing what happened to Arturo is like a piece of you is gone, because we shared so much of everything in the ring. We were friends, close friends.” – Micky Ward