The teenage son of late boxing star Arturo Gatti was found dead on Tuesday by apparent hanging, much like his father was in 2009.
Arturo Gatti Jr. “was found hanging in an apartment in Mexico,” according to Gatti’s former bodyguard, Chuck Zito. The younger Gatti was just 17.
Zito on Wednesday announced the news “with a heavy heart” that Gatti Jr., himself a boxer, was discovered “the same way they found his father dead in an apartment in Brazil 16 years ago.”
Gatti Jr.’s death was also confirmed by Moe Latif, his longtime boxing coach.
“It is unfortunately not a rumor or a joke. Arturo is gone,” he wrote on his Instagram Story. “I’d appreciate if you stop reaching out at this time.”
Gatti Sr.’s wife, Amanda Rodrigues Gatti, found the retired athlete dead on July 11, 2009, in a condo they rented in her native Brazil, where they had been staying for a second honeymoon. He was 37 at the time of his death.
Brazilian police quickly arrested the 23-year-old widow, who they initially believed had used a purse strap to strangle the athlete. Rodrigues Gatti was accused of murder but released once the death was ruled a suicide.
Gatti’s friend and manager Pat Lynch convened a team of independent medical and criminal experts in North Jersey — where Gatti lived during his boxing tenure — who undertook 10 months of investigation.
In September 2011, they discounted officials’ findings, telling ESPN they believed Rodrigues Gatti and another person killed Gatti together, given the $7 million estate he’d leave behind.
Forensic scientist Brent E. Turvey told ESPN Gatti was likely “attacked by another person that resulted in a blunt force laceration to the back of his head and then he was strangled.”
The junior welterweight champ, who had a history of drunk driving and violent altercations outside the ring, was also known for his rivalry with Micky Ward, who was played by Mark Wahlberg in David O. Russell’s two-time Oscar winner, “The Fighter.”
