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“Thunder” Gatti Was Boxing’s Last Great Showman

Arturo "Thunder" Gatti 1972-2009

Arturo "Thunder" Gatti - the Canadian born New Jersey Brawler who went the distance in three epic fights with "Irish" Mickey Ward - passed away Saturday at age 37.

The AP reports:

"Police investigator Edilson Alves told The Associated Press that the body of the former junior welterweight champ was discovered in his room at the tourist resort, where Gatti had arrived on Friday with his Brazilian wife Amanda and 1-year-old son.
Alves said police were investigating and it was unclear how the 37-year-old Canadian died.
"It is still too early to say anything concrete, although it is all very strange," Alves said. He declined to provide any additional details.
A spokeswoman for the state public safety department said Gatti's wife and son were unhurt. The woman declined to give a name in keeping with department policy.
"There were no bullet or stab wounds on his body, but police did find blood stains on the floor," she said."

Despite struggling initially after moving up in weight, the charismatic, hard chinned former junior welter weight champ gave the world an epic battle in three acts with series of fights against the rough and tumble Ward. Despite losing in a split decision in the initial meeting, Gatti fought through a broken hand - and Ward's heavy handed punching to claim the second and third fights.

I was first witnessed Gatti's greatness on May 18th, 2002.

"Thunder" Gatti and "Irish" Mickey Ward gave us boxing's last great war.

As Hefnasty (BTeamBomber partner Sean Heffernan) and I spent a Saturday night drinking beer in my parents' basement, we flipped to HBO and "Boxing After Dark" happened to be on. It was the early rounds of Ward - Gatti I and we had no idea what we had stumbled across. As we sat there and watched the boxers trade blows, we quickly realized that we were watching history in the making. It's difficult to describe the feeling of watching as Thunder and the tough Irishman went at eachother round after round. As the fight went on and the punches became more brutal, it started not to matter who won. Of course, being good Irish Catholic boys, we had to root for Ward, but by the 8th or 9th round, we were just rooting for the fight. All we wanted was to see how much these guys could take. It was the toughest goddamn boxing match I've ever seen. By the 10th round, we were throwing beer cans at the TV and yelling in support of both fighters - this was FUCKING EPIC!

When Ward took the split decision we lost our shit - but the respect he showed for Gatti in his post fight comments was something to behold and the class, maturity and sportsmanship displayed by Gatti in the aftermath was almost unprecedented to two kids who grew up in the Tyson era.

The fact that Gatti was able to best Ward twice after that is almost as impressive as the fact that they were able to fight at the same level of intensity for two more fights.

Throughout the epic trilogy, both fighters showed class, toughness and tremendous skill. Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward gave us the three most exciting fights our generation has ever seen - and Thunder managed to take two of them.

I've watched hundreds of boxing matches, wrestling matches and MMA fights in my life and Ward - Gatti I stands out. I remember every round, every punch thrown.  There are a select few events a sports fan feels truly lucky to have witnessed.  Ward - Gatti I may be at the top of my list.  On behalf of the entire sports world - Thanks, Thunder for giving us what may have been the most entertaining fight in boxing history. 

And of course II and III did not disappoint. Arturo Gatti accomplished something even Copola couldn't - a successful trilogy. As MMA grows in popularity, it's becoming more and more clear that Arturo Gatti was the sport's last star - boxing's last great showman. His charisma, straightforward punching style, hard chin and ability to combine barroom brawling with the beautiful style of the sweet science was truly unmatched. He was one of the few fighters who could back up his mouth with his toughness. This quality puts his in an elite group of fighters that includes Muhamad Ali and George Foreman and the show he put on during his two year battle with ward had not been seen since Ali-Frazier.

His toughness, his charisma and his willingness to sacrifice his body to entertain the masses were qualities not found in many other fighters and made his fights the most exciting we'd seen in years.  He will be missed.

-Wild Bill