RIP Arturo Gatti!

In some completely fucked up shocking news, former IBF Junior Lightweight and WBC Junior Welterweight champion Arturo Gatti was found dead in Brazil over the weekend with his wife having since been arrested for his murder. “Thunder” was arguably the most exciting boxer in the history of the sport having been involved in a number of historic wars. Armed with a granite chin, conditioning for days and an iron will, Gatti often took tremendous punishment and came back to win.
His trilogy with Mickey Ward will go down in history as three of the greatest fights of all-time with both men trading bombs for 30 rounds, swapping knockdowns and showing recuperative powers that will always see those two men tied together in boxing history. The way Gatti came back in the 9th round of the first battle with Ward after being heavily dropped with a body shot and battered against the ropes to then rock Ward and then come out for the 10th round and go toe-to-toe will always be one of my favourite boxing memories. His wars with Ivan Robinson, Tracy Harris Patterson, Gabriel Ruelas and Wilson Rodriguez were spectacular on their own, but not quite as special as the battles with Ward.
Gatti won the IBF 130lb title from Tracy Harris Patterson in 1997 and the WBC 140lb title in 2004 before losing it to Floyd Mayweather in 2005. He challenged the WBC Welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir in 2006, losing by knockout. In his career he beat quality fighters such as Ward, Jesse James Leija, Terron Millett, Leo Dorin, Gabriel Ruelas and Calvin Grove. While not the greatest fighter of all-time, Gatti will be remembered better then some of them because of his heart and the gritty performances he always put forward and because of this he was a PPV attraction. It’s sickening that he could put forward such an effort in the ring to make the money he did for his family only to die at such a young age without getting to enjoy it to the fullest. Gatti was 37 years old. RIP!