The son of Montreal-born boxing legend Arturo Gatti has died in Mexico at the age of 17, more than 16 years after his father\u2019s mysterious death in Brazil.<\/p>\n
Arturo Gatti Jr. was reportedly found dead Tuesday in an apartment in Mexico. The news was first shared by Gatti Sr.\u2019s longtime friend and former bodyguard, Chuck Zito. He wrote on social media: \u201cIt\u2019s with a heavy heart that I have to say, R.I.P. to 17-year-old Arturo Gatti Jr., who was found hanging in an apartment in Mexico yesterday. The same way they found his father dead in an apartment in Brazil 16 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy condolences to Arturo Gatti seniors \u2014 mom, sisters, brothers, and his daughter Sophia,\u201d Zito added.<\/p>\n
Moe Latif, his longtime coach, also confirmed the death online, writing: \u201cIt is unfortunately not a rumour or a joke. Arturo is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just a week before his death, Gatti Jr. had reposted a photo of himself with a friend in Canc\u00fan. That same friend shared the image again on Wednesday, writing: \u201cRIP lil bro.\u201d<\/p>\n
Born in Montreal in 2008, Gatti Jr. had been living with his mother, Amanda Rodrigues, according to Le Journal de Montr\u00e9al, and had begun following in his father\u2019s footsteps as a promising young boxer.<\/p>\n
His father was one of Montreal\u2019s most celebrated athletes. A two-weight world champion, his trilogy of fights against American Micky Ward is considered among the greatest in boxing history.<\/p>\n
In 2009, Gatti Sr. was found dead while vacationing in Porto de Galinhas, Brazil, with wife Rodrigues and their son. Gatti Jr. was just 10-month-old. His body was discovered on the floor of a rented condominium with head injuries and marks consistent with strangulation, according to media reports at the time.<\/p>\n
Brazilian police initially suspected Rodrigues of murder after finding the body, but an autopsy later indicated Gatti Sr. had been suspended off the ground for several hours before his death. Authorities ultimately ruled it a suicide. Rodrigues was later released and cleared of wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
As news of Gatti Jr.\u2019s death spread on Wednesday, tributes poured in from the boxing world.<\/p>\n
Former world light-heavyweight champion Jean Pascal wrote: \u201cSixteen years after losing his father, the world loses another Gatti. The son of a legendary fighter, one legacy. Both gone too soon. May they reunite in peace. My heart is heavy; life can be unfair sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police in Mexico have not yet released details about the circumstances surrounding Gatti Jr.\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
Help is available if you or someone you know is struggling. Call Info-Social at 811, Option 2. If you are having thoughts of suicide, call 911 or Suicide Action Montreal at 1-866-277-3553.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The son of Montreal-born boxing legend Arturo Gatti has died in Mexico at the age of 17, more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[124376,84827,64,63,802,124743,124745,124744,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-199280","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-amanda-rodrigues","9":"tag-arturo-gatti","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-boxing","13":"tag-chuck-zito","14":"tag-le-journal-de-montreal","15":"tag-mysterious-death","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}