Boxer Arturo Gatti found dead in Brazilian hotel room, foul play suspected

July 11, 8:12 PMCrime ExaminerCindy Adams

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In this July 13, 2007 file photo, Arturo Gatti weighs in at 146 pounds in Atlantic City, N.J. , for his his welterweight title boxing match against Alfonso Gomez. Officials say Gatti has been found dead in a hotel room at the seaside resort of Porto de Galinhas in northeastern Brazil on Saturday, July 11, 2009, where he arrived on Friday with his wife and one-year-old son. The spokesman said it was unclear how Gatti died. He was 37. (AP)

Boxer Arturo “Thunder” Gatti, who was scheduled to testify in a trial this week in a lawsuit against the New York State Athletic commission, was found dead in a Brazilian hotel room. 

Gatti, 37, had arrived at the hotel on Friday with his 1-year-old son and Brazilian wife, Amanda. 

Police are still investigating how Gatti died. Police investigator Edison Alves told the Associated Press, “It is still too early to say anything concrete, although it is all very strange.”

A spokesperson for the state public safety department, said Gatti’s wife and son were unharmed. “There were no bullet or stab wounds on his body, but police did find blood stains on the floor.”

The Daily News reports Gatti was found at about 6 a.m. on Saturday wearing only his underwear, with blood stains on the back of his head and his neck.  According to the CBC, a police investigation has begun and foul play is suspected.

Gatti was born in Canada, but relocated to the U.S. in 1991. In 1995, Gatti won the world super featherweight championship over Tracy Harris Patterson by a narrow margin in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Most of his memorable battles were fought on the Boardwalk, and the state of New Jersey embraced him as an adopted son. Gatti retired in 2007, returning to his native Canada.

Brazilian boxer, Acelino “Popo” Freitas told G1, the Web site of Brazil’s television network, Globo, that he was a close friend of Gatti and his wife and he “knew they were having some sort of problem and were about to separate, but I didn’t know they were in Brazil.”

A local police investigator told G1 that Gatti may have been dead for up to eight hours before he was found.