Arturo Gatti drew a capacity crowd in his final show on Thursday as former fighters filled a northern New Jersey church to pay homage to the fallen boxer.
The crowd was sprinkled with heavily muscled men sporting tattoos and close cropped haircuts that included Academy Award nominated actor Mickey Rourke and former champions Mark Breland, Bobby Czyz and Tracy Patterson. They reflect the no-nonsense fans drawn to the scrappy, passionate and charismatic Gatti during a 16-year professional career that produced two world championships and numerous fights of the year.
Stories about the irrepressible Gatti, who died in Brazil under mysterious circumstances on July 11 at the age of 37, brought more than one tough guy in the crowd to tears.
PHOTO: AP
“Everybody loved Arturo,” said Chuck Zito, 56, an actor, bodyguard and former president of the New York City chapter of the Hells Angel motorcycle club. “He thought everybody had as big a heart as he did.”
Members of the boxer’s family, who buried him in Montreal earlier this month, were notably absent from the memorial Mass, organizers said. Older brother Joseph Gatti, who lives in nearby Wyckoff, skipped the event, which was held a few hours after Brazilian authorities changed their initial homicide finding to suicide. They also ordered the release of Gatti’s wife, Amanda Rodrigues, who initially was suspected of strangling an intoxicated Gatti with her purse strap.
Joe Gatti said the family may exhume the fighter’s body in Canada and conduct their own autopsy.
Gatti manager Pat Lynch said he was shocked when he heard about the suicide ruling and hoped the Canadian government would get involved.
“I’m not going to rest. We’ve got a lot of investigation ahead of us,” Lynch said.
Gatti was born in Italy, moved to Canada as a child, and lived in northern New Jersey during most of his boxing career. He moved in with trainer Mario Costa in Jersey City in 1989 when he was 17 near the rough and tumble Route 1 & 9 truck route.
Skepticism of the Brazilian ruling seemed universal on Thursday among the more than 600 people who attended the memorial Mass for Gatti at St John the Baptist Church in Jersey City.
Matchmaker Carl Moretti remembered Gatti as the kind of person that made boxing industry insiders forget the old rule about never falling in love with a fighter.
“It’s safe to say that every one of us forgot that rule when it came to Arturo Gatti,” Moretti said.
The crowd also included boxers Mickey Ward and Ivan Robinson, whose battles with Gatti were recognized as fights of the year by Ring Magazine.
Omar Marmoush’s stunning long-range strike on Tuesday upstaged Kevin de Bruyne on the Manchester City great’s Etihad farewell. Marmoush let fly from about 30m to put City ahead in their 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. The victory moved Pep Guardiola’s team up to third in the standings and left qualification for the UEFA Champions League in their own hands heading into the last round of the season. “It’s really important. To be in the Champions League after what happened [this season] will be really nice,” the City manager said. De Bruyne was making his final home appearance for City before
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS