Arturo Gatti (April 15, 1972 – July 11, 2009) was a Canadian professional boxer who competed from 1991 to 2007. He was a world champion in two weight classes, having held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior lightweight title from 1995 to 1998, and the World Boxing Council (WBC) super lightweight title from 2004 to 2005. He also participated in The Ring magazine's Fight of the Year a total of four times (1997, 1998, 2002, and 2003). He announced his retirement on July 14, 2007. After his death in 2009, Gatti was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame on December 10, 2012, in his first year of eligibility, becoming the tenth Canadian boxer to be so inducted.
Gatti was born in Cassino, Italy, and raised in Montreal, Canada. He is the younger brother of ex-professional boxer Joe Gatti. Gatti eventually relocated to Jersey City, New Jersey, as a teenager where he found a manager he trusted and decided to turn pro. He returned to Montreal after retiring from boxing to work in real estate.
He died under mysterious circumstances in 2009. His Brazilian wife was arrested for his homicide, then released after an autopsy done in Brazil ruled his death was a suicide. Subsequent American and Canadian investigations could not agree on Gatti's cause of death and discovered a history of suicidal ideation. In October 2025, his son, Arturo Gatti Jr., also died by suicide by hanging at age 17.
Growing up in Canada, Gatti had a decorated amateur career, winning two national junior championships as well as winning three Canadian Golden Gloves tournaments in three different weight categories. In 1986, he qualified for the International Youth Tournament but lost to Irish representative Wayne McCulloch. In 1990, Gatti joined the Canadian national team. That October, he competed in the World Youth Championship in Lima but was eliminated in the first round by a boxer from Puerto Rico. He finished his amateur career with a record of 86–14.
Arturo Gatti was a member of the Canadian National team, and was training to represent Canada at the 1992 Summer Games, but in 1991, at age 19, he decided to turn pro instead. He began boxing professionally on the night of June 10, 1991, with a third-round knockout of Jose Gonzalez in Secaucus, New Jersey. He went undefeated for six bouts before losing to King Solomon by split decision in six rounds on November 17, 1992.
His next fight, on March 24, 1993, was his first fight abroad, where he visited Amsterdam, Netherlands, and knocked out Plawen Goutchev in round one.
In 1994, he beat Leon Bostic, and followed through with a Round 1 knockout over Pete Taliaferro to win the USBA super featherweight title. He retained the title against Richard Salazar and former world champion Jose Sanabria.
On December 15, 1995, Gatti challenged the IBF super featherweight Champion Tracy Harris Patterson, Floyd Patterson's adoptive son. Gatti became world champion when he outpointed Patterson (scoring: 116–111, 115–112, 114–113) and signed a multi-fight deal with HBO to fight on HBO Boxing.
He only had two fights in 1996, once defending his world title. His title defense, at Madison Square Garden against Dominican Wilson Rodriguez was the first of three Gatti fights in a row to be named a candidate for "Fight of the Year" by The Ring. Dropped in round two and with his right eye closing fast, Gatti knocked Rodriguez down in round five with a left hook to the body, before finishing him off in round six to retain the title.
In 1997, he again won a points victory over Patterson, but this time by a larger margin (118–108, 117–109, 116–110). He then scored a technical knockout over former world champion Calvin Grove in the seventh round of a non-title affair. Then came his defense against former world champion Gabriel Ruelas, which was also named "Fight of the Year" by The Ring. Rocked by a left uppercut in the fourth, Gatti absorbed more than 15 consecutive punches before being saved by the bell. In the fifth, with Ruelas again the aggressor and looking close to victory, Gatti connected with a left hook that lifted Ruelas off the canvas and resulted in the knock out. His knockout over Ruelas was later awarded The Ring Knockout of the Year.
After that fight, Gatti relinquished the world title, going up in weight to the lightweight division. However, 1998 was a bad year for him, as he lost all three of his fights that year. He lost by a technical knockout in round eight to Angel Manfredy, and then lost a pair of close 10-round decisions to Ivan Robinson, the first by split decision, the second by unanimous. In Gatti–Robinson II, Gatti had a point deducted in the eighth round for low blows. Had the point not been deducted, the fight would have been a draw, as Robinson was ahead by only one point on two scorecards. Gatti–Robinson I was chosen "Fight of the Year" by The Ring, thus marking the second year in a row that a Gatti fight was given that award and the third year in a row a Gatti fight was nominated.
He only had one fight in 1999, knocking out Reyes Munoz in round one.
Controversial fight against Gamache
Gatti's first fight of 2000 proved to be controversial. Faced with former world champion Joey Gamache, Gatti won by a knockout in round two. A subsequent lawsuit by Gamache's handlers claimed Gatti had gained 19 pounds since the weigh-in the day before and thus had a large advantage over Gamache. In the wake of the fight, boxing regulators pushed for a new law limiting the amount of weight a competitor can gain between the weigh-in and time of the fight. Gatti was also accused by Gamache's handlers of not having actually made the contracted weight of 141 pounds. After Gatti–Gamache, some boxing commissions started weighing boxers a second time.
Gatti also won his two other fights that year, against Eric Jukabuwski and Joe Hutchinson.
Fight against De La Hoya and trilogy against Micky Ward
In 2001, Gatti only had one fight, going up in weight to meet welterweight Oscar De La Hoya, who beat him by a technical knockout in five rounds. In 2002, Gatti returned to the light welterweight division and defeated former world champion Terronn Millett by a knockout in round four.
He then split two ten-round decisions with "Irish" Micky Ward, losing their first bout, but winning their second. Gatti-Ward I also earned "Fight of the Year" honors by Ring Magazine, and the 9th round was called the Round of the Century by Emanuel Steward.