'Thunder: The Life and Death of Arturo Gatti' poignantly sets record straight about legendary boxer's demise
A three episode treat for boxing fans and true crime enthusiasts.
“Nobody is gonna tell me Arturo Gatti quit.”
If there is a more powerful combination of punches in this world than money and power, please let me know. Those are the two things that Amanda Rodrigues used to take away everything from Arturo Gatti. She took his son and his life, painting a dark cloud over his name in the aftermath of a shocking death 16 years ago at a seaside Brazil resort that still hasn’t been righteously resolved.
Director Guillaume Carlier’s three-part docuseries, Thunder: The Life and Death of Arturo Gatti, breathes credibility and life back into the Gatti name, uncovering a deeper investigation that the Gatti family put together years following the boxer’s death. The putrid and hasty investigation and conclusion by the Brazil police overshadowed the quick acknowledgements of a detective who entered the crime scene first and saw legit foul play and a woman who couldn’t be trusted.
Through the work of Paul Ciolino and Joe Mora, investigators who draw clear paths to a conclusion with evidence and not shady lawyers or lazy police procedural tactics, the suicide theory-it still stands as the official cause of death-is challenged thoroughly, broken down and put back together like a mystery crime jigsaw puzzle. Instead of only bringing in a couple of experts, sports documentary extraordinaire Adam Scorgie and his team bring in over ten experts who give unbiased opinions on what could have happened that fateful night.
Gatti’s demise is kettle corn for true crime enthusiasts: A Netflix doc done with a more personal touch, with close friends like Mike Sciara and ex-fighters and trainers from his days growing up in Montreal and New York dishing their take on their friend’s greatest and final moments. The three episodes built a solid case around the original pile of shit investigation constructed through a corrupt legal system and a power hungry ex-stripper who held a bounty over Gatti’s head during his final days.
Gatti’s name still carries a lot of weight in boxing. His trilogy of slugfests with Mickey Ward helped solidify him as the most old school of boxers during his time. A pure go-for-broke scrapper, the man never got cheated in the ring. His rise from the streets of Canada (he was NOT born in Italy, folks) to the rings of late night HBO boxing is well documented in Thunder, giving a well-rounded scope to the man whose death was more of a cheat than any fight in his life.
The whole case stunk to high heaven from the jump. The original Brazilian detective who walked into the room and saw Amanda boiling a necklace could tell you that suicide wasn’t a possibility with a weak Louis Vuitton purse strap, but no stone is left unturned in the investigation by Ciolino, Mora, and the countless experts brought in by Scorgie and his team.
***MILD SPOILERS***MILD SPOILERS DISCUSSED BELOW***SPOILERS BELOW
As tough and immovable as he was in a ring, Gatti could be undone by a woman, just like 99% of men on this planet. Amanda’s power over him was succinct and revolved around one sole asset. We’re talking about things that can’t be solved with evidence or a years-spanning investigation. A baby boy is what changed things. While Arturo and his ex-wife Erika Rivera had a baby girl named Sofia, Amanda gave birth to Arturo Gatti Junior. If there is one thing that is more powerful than money or power, it’s a woman using a man’s bloodline to kill him.
If there was no Gatti Jr. for Amanda to wave around like an evil magic wand, he may still be alive today. If there is a single thing that can take the hardest-to-knock-down boxer around, it’s a boy being used as leverage. Nothing else makes Arturo throw an ironclad will (crafted by his manager, the beloved Pat Lynch) and bring Arturo Jr. to Brazil on that fateful July weekend than the promise of staying around his son. Without him, Amanda didn’t have a single ounce of leverage.
While any working brain knows (especially after watching this docuseries) that she strangled him that night after getting Gatti extremely drunk and hitting him over the head with something very hard, the real uncut truth may never see the light of day. It lives by the grave of that one noble detective (who arrested Amanda on the spot before being removed from the case, the one soul in Brazil who smelt shit and told the media about it. It lives by the grave of a man who fought like hell his entire life until he ran into something that knew his weakness. A man’s love for his children knows zero bounds.
It’s not like the docuseries bypasses the possibility of suicide. Ciolino and his team first worked to prove that theory true, which is the first thing one should do when examining the case. Take what was given and see if that holds, which the whole theory clearly did not. Experts proved with physical tests that the strap couldn’t hold the weight. A journalist could understand that you only boil a necklace to get something off of it, like human skin. While Gatti did have a darkness that any fighter who takes repetitive blows to the head contains, it doesn’t make a clear path to taking his own life. If that’s the case, how is Ward still around?
Outside of the lingering pain of mystery and questions surrounding his death, there’s a lot to savor from Thunder: The Life and Death of Arturo Gatti. For me, hearing the stories from Ward about his fights and friendship with Gatti was a treat. Sciara and friends, along with Gatti’s bodyguard Chuck Zito, paint a personal picture of the French Canadian brawler who made an impression in every setting he reached. Fight promoter Lou DiBella is a frequent guest in the three episodes, recounting the impact that the fighter had on HBO Boxing After Dark and how someone like him never quits.
If the docuseries proves anything 100%, it’s that Gatti’s family, friends, and supporters never give up the fight for justice. In their hearts and our minds, he was murdered by a mischievous woman who held up a prodigal son (one who still fights today) over Arturo’s head. Money was Amanda’s motive, and she used the power of Arturo Gatti Jr. to undo his father. Money and power. The most lethal combination life has to offer.
Score G Productions is behind Ice Guardians, Making Coco: The Grant Fuhr Story, Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo, Bisping, and other great documentaries.
Thunder: The Life and Death of Arturo Gatti is available to rent or buy for just $5 on Prime Video. I’d buy it and show it to your true crime enthusiast friends during the next hangout. Fight fan or not, you’ll be able to appreciate the courageous passion he showed in the ring and his family showed a decade after his death.
