Last week, Arturo Gatti, one of my favorite fighters of all time was murdered. So far, his wife is the prime suspect. Gatti was found dead in his hotel room while on vacation in Brazil. He wasn't the best fighter in the world but he gave it his all every fight he fought and that's why the fans loved him. If you've seen his fights, I'm more than sure that this news is upsetting to you because for a while this was only guy in the sport that kept it fun to watch while fighters like Mike Tyson did all of their drama out of the ring and promoters like Don King screwed fighters any which way. Boxing is a sport that started to decline around the time of Tyson's "bite fight" and the controversial decision of De La Hoya-Trinidad 10 years ago. Those headlines kept the casual fans away and made the hard core fans look insane for liking a sport that makes no sense. While all of this nonsense ate up all of the ink in the sports pages, there was an Italian-Canadian by way of New Jersey that fought his heart out on HBO's smaller cards. He got a cult-like following and slowly but surely made his way to the mainstream. He retired two years ago after taking too much punishment in the ring and from partying. Another element to him was that he was legendary partier and it only made his story more compelling when he fought. The sport has lost one of it's stars and he can only hope to get another guy like him.
UFC and MMA fans in general don't like boxing but if you ask any of them which boxer they liked watching and they'll all say Arturo "Thunder" Gatti. He had a broad appeal to fans outside of the sport and his fights would sell out arenas in Atlantic City with A-list celebs.
In case you've never had the pleasure to watch him fight. Here's a cheesy youtube tribute/highlight reel that I found of him...
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