Arturo Gatti found dead

celticdb15

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Indeed R.I.P
 

Liverlips

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Killed on his honeymoon in Brazil. Very suspicious head injury.

RIP to a hell of a white warrior. He will live forever through his epic battles with Mickey Ward.
 

WHITE NOISE

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I can not think of one black man that has given and taken the many punches as Gatti. And no black man comes to mind that has been in battles as epic as his. So sad, RIP
 

white is right

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I only hope his roller coaster lifestyle didn't bite him in the ass. He is probably Canada's greatest modern fighter. If he makes the boxing hall of fame it will because of his body of work at 130. His ability to soak up punishment was inhumane at that weight division. RIP...
 

Westside

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Man, 37 years old is way too young to die, especially if you have money in the bank and real estate investiments. If I am the Brazilian authorities, I would look at his wife. She holds the keys to his death. I remember some of his incredible fights, such as his KO wins over Wilson Rodriguez and Gabe Rueleas. That 1st fight with Mickey Ward was insane. Thanks for the memories Art.
 

Maple Leaf

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Wow. 37 and gone and done. All those fights to make a life after fighting and it's all over but he ever got a chance. A man just has to be carefull with whom he associates. Rest in peace.
 

White Shogun

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It is not how long you live, but how well.

Hail Arturo Gatti, may his indomitable spirit serve him as well in the next world as it did in this. Edited by: White Shogun
 

The Hock

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The list of ex boxers who died young and under sketchy circumstances is a long one. I can't think of any others where the wife did them in.
 

white is right

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In the early 20th century bar fights and death were quite common. I actually thought he might have been murdered by an underworld element. His ex-in laws have had contacts with the Montreal underworld(the Hiltons). Now this looks like an Italian version of Fatal Attraction. I just hope third world bungling and incompetence doesn't interfere in justice for one boxing's gallant warriors.
 

white is right

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Well it's official his bukak wife has been charged with murder. Here is a wire story....Police hold Gatti's wife as investigation continues

Updated Mon. Jul. 13 2009 12:48 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Brazilian police are holding the 23-year-old wife of slain Canadian boxing champ Arturo Gatti, as they search for clues in the investigation into his slaying on the weekend.

Gatti was found dead early Saturday morning, apparently strangled with the strap from a handbag.

His wife, Amanda Rodrigues of Brazil, has been taken into custody and formally accused, but not charged, by police.

She denies having anything to do with Gatti's death, but police say she has not adequately explained how or why she stayed in the room for 10 hours after Gatti was apparently killed.

Police are also looking into Rodrigues' claim that the couple had a fight the night before he was found, and that he was drunk and returned to the hotel room alone afterwards.

They were staying at the posh Porto de Galinhas resort, said Tom Phillips, a freelance journalist working in Brazil.

"The local people are very shocked because it's a very chic, sophisticated resort where people go to get away from the city and lie on the beach and spend lots of money on wienertails. It's not the place where you normally get murdered," he told CTV News Channel.

Meanwhile, friends and family of the former junior welterweight champion from Montreal were mourning the sudden, unexpected loss.

Victor Salvatore, a friend of Gatti's from Montreal who has known him since he was a boy, said the boxer's death is an "amazing shock."

"Arturo was a good guy, always happy always willing to help you out, always in a good mood, a good guy, a fun guy who had a 10-month old boy, and he was super happy to be a father. This comes at a really bad time in his life," Salvatore told CTV's Canada AM.

Investigation in progress

According to Pernambuco state police spokesperson Milena Saraiva, the police investigation is not yet complete.

Saraiva told The Associated Press that Gatti was strangled with the strap of a purse, which was found at the scene covered with blood stains. Gatti also had a head injury.

The couple arrived at the resort in northeastern Brazil on Friday with their one-year-old son, Arturo Jr., who is now being looked after by Rodrigues' sister.

Four-time world champion boxer Acelino (Popo) Freitas, who is from Brazil, told Globo TV's website that he was close to the couple and that he "knew they were having some sort of problem and were about to separate."

The 37-year-old former junior welterweight champion compiled a 40-9 record during a 16-year professional career.

Gatti, who was born in Italy but grew up in Montreal, had an all-or-nothing fighting style that often led to bloody punch ups in the ring, making him a fan favourite.

Salvatore described his friend as a "guts and glory, heart and soul" type of fighter who never let his fame or money go to his head.

"He was always happy, always ready to sign an autograph, to take a picture with you, always ready to have a drink with you and just be a normal human being. He hit rock star status but he never thought for one second that he was that popular," Salvatore said.

Gatti retired from professional boxing in 2007. After spending much of his boxing career in the United States, Gatti moved back to Montreal, where he got involved in the real estate business. Edited by: white is right
 

Westside

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I knew it would be his border line wife. They always say, follow the money. I suspect Art had money or insurance, couple that with his weakness for the ladies and booze and you have a receipe for a tragic ending.

As Maple Leaf stated, be careful who you associate with. Those are words to quite literally live by!
 

guest301

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White Shogun said:
It is not how long you live, but how well.

Hail Arturo Gatti, may his indomitable spirit serve him as well in the next world as it did in this.


Well said.
 

jaxvid

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How the hell does his wife choke him to death with her handbag strap??!! WTF?
 

White Shogun

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jaxvid said:
How the hell does his wife choke him to death with her handbag strap??!! WTF?

Drunk or passed out? Drugged? Quite nefarious...
 

albinosprint

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Great fighter, what a shame.
 

white is right

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Supposedly his bukak wife is innocent. How does a guy hang himself with a ladies purse and have stab wounds at the back of his neck. I guess his wife is free to get her old job at Scores again....... Here is the wire story....Gatti's death seen as suicide as police free wife: reports

(AFP) â€" 6 hours ago

SAO PAULO â€" The death of Canadian boxer Arturo Gatti in Brazil this month was probably a suicide and not a murder as first believed and his wife has now been cleared of suspicion of any crime, reports said Thursday.

Gatti, a former world boxing champion, was found dead July 11 in an apartment he was renting with his family in the northern Brazilian city of Recife. He was 37.

Police had arrested his Brazilian wife, Amanda Rodrigues, on suspicion of strangling him with her handbag strap as he slept following a drunken row the night before.

Her alleged hours-long delay in alerting police, signs that no one else could have entered the apartment and bruising from an apparent blow to Gatti's neck supported that hypothesis, police said at the time.

But according to Brazilian media on Thursday, including the news websites O Globo and Terra Brasil, the investigation has concluded that Gatti likely committed suicide.

Rodrigues, 23, was released from custody, reports said.

She had maintained her innocence during questioning and suggested that someone else might have killed her husband or he might have killed himself.

She said the two had slept in separate rooms that night, because of their argument.

Gatti, born in Italy but raised in Montreal and a naturalized Canadian citizen, had lived in the United States with his wife and son.

He retired in 2007 with a record of 40-9 with 31 knockouts.

Gatti won the International Boxing Federation super featherweight title in 1995 and captured the World Boxing Council junior welterweight crown in 2004.

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved.

Edited by: white is right
 

Europe

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He was rich with a hot young wife and still couldn't be happy it seems.
 
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