There are boxers who have gone down in history not only for their talent but also for the shows they managed to give to the public, for the standing ovations they elicited, for the spectators left gaping. The undisputed king of this group was undoubtedly the Italian-Canadian Arturo “Thunder” Gatti, protagonist of no less than four Fights Of The Year and considered by many the most spectacular boxer of all time. Unfortunately, on July 11, 2009, Arturo passed away in controversial circumstances at the age of just 37; today we remember the magical moments of his spine-chilling career.
The climb to the world title and the first great war
Born in Cassino, in the lower Lazio region of Italy, Gatti grew up in Canada, a country he could have represented at the 1992 Olympics if he hadn’t decided to turn professional at just 19 to pursue his dreams and follow his indomitable spirit. With a series of knockouts, the young Arturo made his way to the world title shot against IBF super featherweight champion Tracy Patterson. Physically dominant, Gatti won on points with an unusually cautious strategy. However, the true nature of the boxer emerged already in his first title defense: the modest Dominican Wilson Rodriguez, assaulted with blind and wild fury, bombarded Gatti’s uncovered face until it was bloody and swollen. Nevertheless, the champion, despite a brutal knockdown, continued to attack relentlessly until he found a dramatic KO with a terrifying left hook.
Glory and blood: from Ruelas to Manfredy, the legend solidifies
Gatti’s immense courage received its first official recognition in 1997, when his defense against Gabriel Ruelas was declared Fight Of The Year. Against a Mexican school brawler, Thunder, together with his opponent, created a real onslaught of defenses: blows rained down on each other’s jaws until the Italian-Canadian, shaken by an uppercut in the previous round, landed his providential left hook and turned off the lights for his rival. Another constant in Gatti’s career, namely the tendency to incur terrible cuts, began to cause problems: just three months after the war with Ruelas came the battle with Angel Manfredy, and this time Gatti, although getting up from a very heavy knockdown, was stopped to his great dismay by the ringside doctor due to a horrible and bleeding cut.
The first rivalry: the challenges with Ivan Robinson
Moving up to lightweight due to his physical evolution, Gatti had to experience greater resistance to the punches of the boxers in the new category. Following the fight with Manfredy, there were two more losses, both suffered against the little-known Ivan Robinson. The latter withstood Gatti’s onslaughts and countered with endless combinations, visibly damaging the opponent’s battered face: although knocked down in the fourth round and forced to stagger twice in the tenth, the American surprisingly won on points. Robinson was then able to replicate the success in the rematch, perhaps set up too soon, without Gatti having fully recovered. Emblematic was the third round of the rematch, later named Round Of The Year, in which Robinson bombarded Arturo’s head for more than 30 consecutive seconds until the sound of the bell, then letting out an explicit gesture of annoyance and incredulity at seeing his opponent still standing.
Gatti vs Ward: a trilogy for the strong-hearted
After undergoing a true boxing lesson from Oscar De La Hoya, Gatti found himself facing a boxer destined to become an indissoluble part of his story: the American of Irish descent Micky “Irish” Ward. The two were protagonists of one of the most sensational trilogies in boxing history, so much so that the first and third chapters of the saga were named Fight Of The Year. At the end of the first fight, which the incredulous commentators from HBO did not hesitate to define as “The fight of the century”, the two boxers ended up in the same hospital room and forged a friendship destined to last forever. After losing the first dramatic encounter and finally displaying tactical intelligence to win the second, Gatti was dragged into another mythological war in the third fight despite the contrary advice of the new trainer Buddy McGirt. Arturo emerged as the narrow winner and hugged his historic rival in a moving embrace after the sound of the final bell.
The warrior’s decline and the controversial death
The three bloody battles with Ward, who hung up his gloves and joined Gatti’s staff, irreversibly marked Arturo’s decline. Thunder managed to take the last sporting satisfactions by grabbing the WBC super lightweight title against our Gianluca Branco, but reflexes, explosiveness, and physical endurance were beginning to abandon him. Annihilated in five one-sided rounds by Floyd Mayweather Jr and victim of two terrible KOs among the welterweights, Gatti put an end to his miraculous sporting adventure. Unfortunately, just two years later, his life also unexpectedly and tragically ended in Brazil: his lifeless body was found in the hotel room where he was staying with his second wife Amanda Rodrigues. After an initial phase of investigations in which the former boxer’s wife was arrested and suspected of committing or commissioning the murder, the case was closed as a suicide. Among the many phrases that Arturo’s fans circulated online in the days following the tragic event, there is one that perhaps better than any other summarizes what Gatti was for boxing and its fans: “Count to eight. He will get up.”