Arturo Gatti

Growing up in Canada, Gatti had a decorated amateur career, winning two national junior championships as well as winning three Canadian Golden Gloves tournaments in three different weight categories. In 1986, he qualified for the International Youth Tournament but lost to Irish representative Wayne McCulloch. In 1990, Gatti joined the Canadian national team. That October, he competed in the World Youth Championship in Lima but was eliminated in the first round by a boxer from Puerto Rico. He finished his amateur career with a record of 86–14. == Professional career ==

Arturo Gatti was a member of the Canadian National team, and was training to represent Canada at the 1992 Summer Games, but in 1991, at age 19, he decided to turn pro instead. He began boxing professionally on the night of June 10, 1991, with a third-round knockout of Jose Gonzalez in Secaucus, New Jersey. He went undefeated for six bouts before losing to King Solomon by split decision in six rounds on November 17, 1992. His next fight, on March 24, 1993, was his first fight abroad, where he visited Amsterdam, Netherlands, and knocked out Plawen Goutchev in round one. He only had two fights in 1996, once defending his world title. His title defense, at Madison Square Garden against Dominican Wilson Rodriguez was the first of three Gatti fights in a row to be named a candidate for "Fight of the Year" by The Ring. Dropped in round two and with his right eye closing fast, Gatti knocked Rodriguez down in round five with a left hook to the body, before finishing him off in round six to retain the title. He then scored a technical knockout over former world champion Calvin Grove in the seventh round of a non-title affair. Then came his defense against former world champion Gabriel Ruelas, which was also named "Fight of the Year" by The Ring. Rocked by a left uppercut in the fourth, Gatti absorbed more than 15 consecutive punches before being saved by the bell. In the fifth, with Ruelas again the aggressor and looking close to victory, Gatti connected with a left hook that lifted Ruelas off the canvas and resulted in the knock out. His knockout over Ruelas was later awarded The Ring Knockout of the Year. To the lightweight division After that fight, Gatti relinquished the world title, going up in weight to the lightweight division. However, 1998 was a bad year for him, as he lost all three of his fights that year. He lost by a technical knockout in round eight to Angel Manfredy, and then lost a pair of close 10-round decisions to Ivan Robinson, the first by split decision, the second by unanimous. In Gatti–Robinson II, Gatti had a point deducted in the eighth round for low blows. Had the point not been deducted, the fight would have been a draw, as Robinson was ahead by only one point on two scorecards. Gatti–Robinson I was chosen "Fight of the Year" by The Ring, thus marking the second year in a row that a Gatti fight was given that award and the third year in a row a Gatti fight was nominated. He only had one fight in 1999, knocking out Reyes Munoz in round one. In the wake of the fight, boxing regulators pushed for a new law limiting the amount of weight a competitor can gain between the weigh-in and time of the fight. Gatti was also accused by Gamache's handlers of not having actually made the contracted weight of 141 pounds. After Gatti–Gamache, some boxing commissions started weighing boxers a second time. In 2002, Gatti returned to the light welterweight division and defeated former world champion Terronn Millett by a knockout in round four. Gatti's first bout against Ward is viewed as one of the greatest in boxing history by writers and fans alike. It has since been referred to as the “fight of the century” and won both The Ring Magazines fight of the year and the BWAA Fight of the Year. Gatti was also awarded The Ring Magazine Comeback of the Year for his career resurgence in 2002. On June 7, 2003, he and Ward had a rubber match. Gatti broke his twice-repaired right hand when he struck Ward's hip bone with an attempted body shot in the fourth, and he dropped his arm. In the sixth, Gatti dominated the round, but got caught with an overhand to the top of the head a second before the bell rang and went down. Gatti would win the match by unanimous decision. The third fight between the two was again named "Fight of the Year" by Ring Magazine. Gatti vs Ward I & III are also part of HBO's 10 best fights of the decade. The trilogy is often regarded as one of the greatest in all of boxing. Career after Micky Ward On January 24, 2004, Gatti, having recovered from a broken hand, scored a tenth round knock-down and defeated Gianluca Branco of Italy by a 12-round unanimous decision to win the vacant WBC light welterweight title. On July 24, 2004, he knocked out the previously unbeaten former world champion Leonard Dorin Doroftei in two rounds at Atlantic City, to retain his title. Gatti's second defense of his WBC title came against former WBC super featherweight Champion Jesse James Leija on January 29, 2005. Gatti beat Leija by a fifth-round knockout. Gatti's protege, Danny "Little Mac" McDermott made his professional debut on the undercard with a victory over Alex Matos. In his next fight, Gatti fought former super featherweight and lightweight world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. on June 25, 2005. He took a horrific beating and Gatti's corner man threw in the towel after he was beaten around the ring, thus ending his title reign via sixth-round technical knockout. After the loss to Mayweather, Gatti moved up to the welterweight division. He beat Thomas Damgaard on January 28, 2006, by an eleventh-round technical knockout to win the vacant IBA welterweight title and become a champion in 3 different weight divisions. On July 22, 2006, Gatti lost by a TKO to Carlos Baldomir, vying for the WBC & The Ring welterweight championship. He then broke off his relationship with Buddy McGirt and had a new trainer in Micky Ward. Final fight and retirement Gatti attempted a comeback on July 14, 2007, against Alfonso Gomez, only to get TKO'd by Gomez. After the fight, Gatti announced his retirement in the dressing room, reportedly quipping: "I'm coming back — as a spectator." Gatti retired with a record of 40 wins and 9 losses, with 31 wins by knockout. On September 24, 2008, reports had surfaced that Gatti was considering a comeback against Montreal welterweight Antonin Décarie, the Canadian and North American Boxing Organization champion. On December 10, 2012, he was voted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. == Fighting style ==

Arturo was an aggressive, all-action fighter, often remembered as a slugger. Early on in his career, Gatti showed his tremendous punching power as he amassed a large number of first-round knockouts. Although he had the ability to box many opponents (as shown in the second Micky Ward fight) Gatti would often get into brawls when his opponents were able to take the power and fight back. This is why many of his bouts against good opposition were slug-fests. Gatti had a very good chin, shown in the majority of his major fights. He was able to absorb large amounts of punishment by fighters such as Wilson Rodriguez, Gabriel Ruelas, Angel Manfredy, Ivan Robinson, Oscar De La Hoya, Micky Ward, Floyd Mayweather and Carlos Baldomir, none of whom could knock him out cold. In his first title defence against Wilson Rodriguez at Madison Square Garden he showed off his recuperative abilities as he was close to being stopped under a barrage of shots and in the next round he stopped his opponent. Due to Gatti's entertaining style he earned the nickname “The Human Highlight Reel.” Oscar De La Hoya, who faced many big punchers from 130 pounds to 160 pounds, says Gatti hit him the hardest out of any fighter. == Death ==

On July 11, 2009, Gatti was found dead in a hotel in Ipojuca, Pernambuco, Brazil, where he was on holiday with his Brazilian wife, Amanda Rodrigues, and their 10-month-old son. He was 37 years old. Gatti's wife was initially charged with murder after Brazilian authorities ruled Gatti's death a homicide, but after the coroner's autopsy report was released, they declared it was a suicide by hanging, and charges against his widow were dropped. Gatti had a history of suicidal threats and had previously attempted suicide in 2006. The WBC also presented Gatti's mother with a posthumous championship belt. There were many other tributes made by members of the boxing world in Gatti's honor, along with a public memorial in New Jersey. On July 31, 2009, it was announced that the Canadian government would be seeking more information from the Brazilian authorities on Gatti's death. Gatti's family confirmed that there would be a second autopsy done in Quebec. Two independent investigators hired by Gatti's longtime manager Pat Lynch released a statement in September 2011 that they believed Gatti was murdered. A contributing factor to their conclusion was an injury to the back of Gatti's head that they believed could not have been self inflicted. After receiving the independent investigators' findings, Brazilian authorities again concluded that Gatti died by suicide. At the family's request, a Quebec coroner agreed to exhume the body so that two pathologists could conduct a second autopsy. After an autopsy, the pathologists ruled there was "no clear evidence of foul play" and expressed doubt at the conclusions reached by the private investigators hired by Gatti's manager. CBC's The Fifth Estate and HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel both interviewed witnesses who stated Gatti assaulted his wife in public the night before his death and that the injuries to the back of his head came as result of Gatti fighting with a passer-by who attempted to intervene. == Titles in boxing ==

Major world titles • IBF junior lightweight champion (130 pounds) • WBC super lightweight champion (140 pounds) Minor world titles • IBA welterweight champion (140 pounds) Regional titles • USBA junior lightweight champion (130 pounds) == Awards and achievements ==

Fights of the year • 1997 The Ring Fight of the Year vs. Gabriel Ruelas • 1998 The Ring Fight of the Year vs. Ivan Robinson • 2002 The Ring Fight of the Year vs. Micky Ward • 2002 BWAA Fight of the Year vs. Micky Ward • 2003 The Ring Fight of the Year vs. Micky Ward III Other awards • Inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame in 1996. • 1997 The Ring Knockout of the Year vs. Gabriel Ruelas • 2002 The Ring Comeback of the Year • 2002 The Ring magazine Round of the Year Round 9 vs. Micky Ward • 2002 ''USA Today's'' Round of the year Round 9 vs. Micky Ward • Inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. • Inducted into International Boxing Hall of Fame on December 10, 2012, in his first year of eligibility. • Inducted into the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame in 2019. • Inducted into the National Boxing Hall of Fame in 2024. == Personal life ==

Gatti was born in Italy and his family is of Italian ancestry. His family shortly relocated to Montreal, Quebec, where he was raised and fought his entire amateur career. During the 2000s Gatti was in a relationship with Erika Rivera who he met in New Jersey they had one daughter together named Sophia who was born in 2005 the couple shortly separated. In 2007 Gatti married Amanda Rodrigues, a Brazilian woman he met in Atlantic City, their son Arturo Gatti Jr., was born in 2008. Gatti Jr. followed in his footsteps and competed at amateur level with plans to turn professional but died at just 17 years old with his body discovered hung from an apartment in Mexico on 7th October 2025. After he retired in 2007, Gatti returned to Montreal, Canada, and got involved in real estate/property development. After Gatti's death, Ward stated “a big part of me is gone.” Gatti enjoyed living a lavish lifestyle however he did struggle with alcoholism throughout his life. == In popular culture ==

In 2013, HBO released a one-hour documentary, The Tale of Gatti-Ward, as part of its Legendary Nights series. The film highlighted Gatti's iconic trilogy with Micky Ward and the friendship that followed. In 2016, Dennis Taylor and John Raspanti published the book Intimate Warfare, which chronicled Gatti's trilogy of fights with Ward and the bond the two men later formed. In 2023, a three-part true crime documentary titled Thunder: The Life and Death of Arturo Gatti was released. It explored Gatti's life and boxing career while also investigating the circumstances surrounding his death. The series won Best Documentary Series at that year's Alberta Film and Television Awards. Video games The game Fight Night Round 3 (2006) features Ward and Gatti on the cover (PS2 and Xbox versions only). == Professional boxing record ==