The Arturo Gatti Story: “Can You Hear the Thunder?”

Jerry Glick reporting: We may never know what happened to Arturo “Thunder” Gatti. Did he kill himself or was he murdered? His widow says suicide; for awhile the cops down in Brazil, where the former junior-lightweight and junior-welterweight champion lived in the final years of his life with wife of two years, 23-year-old Amanda Rodrigues, believed it was murder and arrested his young attractive wife, but an investigation said otherwise and she was freed.

He was discovered dead with a purse strap around his neck. Did he use that to end his life? Why? Why use a purse strap? Why die at all? Could his wife have strangled the retired, but still powerful, ex-boxer? Is that possible? Only a fly on the wall and Amanda Rodrigues know for sure.

Arturo Gatti was born in 1972 in Italy and migrated to Canada as a child. They called him “Thunder” and “The Human Highlight Reel” for his incredible ability to wage war in the ring. He was found dead in a hotel room in Brazil at the age of 37. Cause of death was apparently strangulation, how that came about is still considered to be under suspicious circumstances.

Now, four years after his mysterious death, a movie about his life is in the works. Screenwriter Will Evans has written a screenplay about the popular boxer’s life and times including his trilogy with Micky Ward.

“About a year ago,” explained Evans. “My partner, John McCabe, and I were sitting down and talking about “The Fighter,” (an acclaimed film about Ward) which was coming out, and he said to me, ‘You know your passion has always been boxing.’ “

McCabe then suggested that Evans write a story about Gatti. “Arturo was one of my favorite fighters anyway,” said Evans. “The next day I actually called Pat Lynch (Gatti’s former manager). I got a hold of him and we sat down and talked about Arturo. From that point on we became more and more interested in the project especially after finding out that his death was not what it seemed. They said it was suicide, and Pat was in an investigation about that, and he was just starting it. I got involved and started writing the story. I took off where “The Fighter” kind of leaves off, with Arturo fighting De La Hoya and he lost.”

Gatti talked about retiring at that time, and took some time off. Evans started there and went through the time that Buddy McGirt entered into the Gatti camp. “We have Buddy on board and he signed a contract with us. He’s going to be the consultant for the film, and has been helpful along the way. The film takes you through his triumphs and Mayweather, and the demons that go along with his life. I don’t pull any punches.”

Evans added that they will touch upon the infamous Joey Gamache fight where the Gatti camp was accused of tampering with the scales and the Gamache was injured while being crushed in two rounds. Evans points out that Gatti also almost killed his previous opponent, Reyes Munoz, who was stopped in a round and carried out on a stretcher. He suggests that Gatti looked so big in those fights that he may very well have been on steroids.

According to Evans he spoke to many who knew Gatti personally and all had only good things to say about the former world champion. They said he drank, but was a good soul. “He did this or that,” claimed Evans, “But no one would say he was a bad person.”

“He was a soft spoken guy,” said Evans, “Who had his demons as do many fighters.”

Evans said that Gatti was generous, often giving away money, and sometimes was a victim of people stealing his money. He was taken advantage of because of his good nature. Gatti even gave Ward a portion of his purse after their third fight because Ward wasn’t being paid the same kind of money that they gave to Gatti.

“I heard people say things like ‘Arturo was like a son to me,’ or ‘He was like a father to me.’ I heard this so many times it became redundant,” claimed Evans.

Currently the film, titled “Can You Hear the Thunder?” is a work in progress, so stay tuned for the premier that is planned for 2012.