Arturo Gatti Was Married With Children — Then His Family Story Took a Dark Turn

You don’t expect a story like this to keep unfolding. Not after everything that’s already happened. Not sixteen years later.

Arturo Gatti was a warrior in the ring — brutal, fearless, impossible to ignore. Outside the ropes, though, things weren’t so easy. Arturo Gatti was married twice, with each relationship marked by drama, passion, and more than a few private battles. Then one day, on vacation with his wife and young son, he was found dead under circumstances that still don’t make sense. Some said it was suicide. Others still swear it wasn’t.

Sixteen years later … His son is gone, too. Arturo Jr., barely 17, died in a way that looked eerily familiar. Same cause. Same questions. No clear answers.

If you dig into Arturo’s personal life, what you find isn’t a neat timeline—it’s messy, sometimes unclear, and filled with tension. According to Golden.com, Arturo was first married to Erika Rivera, and together they had a daughter, Sofia Bella. The couple reportedly separated in 2007, around the same time Arturo’s career was winding down. Public details about their marriage are scarce, and while Erika has appeared in legal filings over the years, she’s largely stayed out of the spotlight.

Later that same year, Arturo married Amanda Rodrigues, a Brazilian national. They met not long before and married in Las Vegas in August 2007. Their relationship was intense — and deeply troubled. Police records and court reports from the time describe volatile arguments, domestic disputes, and emotional whiplash. Amanda would later tell investigators that Arturo had threatened suicide in the past. The CBC confirmed that he had reportedly attempted suicide in 2006.

But what happened between Arturo and Amanda in July 2009 still raises eyebrows. While vacationing in Pernambuco, Brazil, with Amanda and their 10-month-old son, Arturo was found dead in their hotel room. Brazilian police first charged Amanda with premeditated murder, based on evidence at the scene and eyewitness accounts of a fight the night before. According to Boxing Scene, investigators believed Amanda struck Arturo with a blunt object, then strangled him with her purse strap while he was unconscious.

Just days later, that story shifted per a thread on Reddit with a detailed breakdown on the case. A second investigator, Paulo Alberes, took over the case and ruled Arturo’s death a suicide — claiming he had hung himself with the same purse strap. Amanda was released, and the charges were dropped.

Arturo’s two children — Sofia Bella and Arturo Jr. — were young when he died. In the years following his death, both families — his first wife and his widow — fought over his estate, his will, and the truth behind what happened.

Sofia's mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Amanda, alleging that she was responsible for Arturo’s death and should not benefit financially from it. But a New Jersey judge dismissed the case, ruling that Brazilian authorities had officially cleared Amanda and that no new evidence justified reopening the matter, per ESPN.

Amanda, for her part, claimed she had no knowledge of the prenuptial agreement Arturo insisted she sign. Court documents, however, revealed that she’d been reminded of it during their brief separation before the Brazil trip — and that a revised will had been signed just days before their vacation. According to CBC, Amanda ultimately inherited Arturo’s estate.

In October 2025, Arturo Gatti Jr. was found dead in Mexico. He was just 17. The cause was reported by some sources as suicide by hanging — the exact same manner in which his father died.

According to People, Arturo Jr. had been living in Mexico and training as an amateur boxer, following in his father's footsteps. Friends described him as quiet, focused, and deeply connected to his father’s legacy — even as he tried to build his own. News of his death shocked the boxing community and reopened wounds that had never fully healed.

Was it a coincidence? A tragic echo of generational trauma? Or something darker?

We may never know for sure. But for those who’ve followed the Gatti family’s story, from the chaos of Arturo’s personal life to the clouded circumstances of his death—and now the loss of his son—it’s hard not to wonder if there’s more to all of this than what we’ve been told.