All Blog Posts from Crimesider

MONTREAL - Arturo Gatti's will was changed just three weeks before the ex-boxing champ died, his brother Fabrizio confirmed Sunday.

"It's the truth," he said when asked during a brief phone call for confirmation of reports the former fighter had bequeathed everything to his wife, Amanda Rodrigues.

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RIO DE JANEIRO - A Brazilian police investigation has determined that the death of boxer Arturo Gatti was a suicide and a court has ordered the release of his wife, who was once suspected of killing him.

Lead investigator Paulo Alberes told The Associated Press on Thursday that police concluded Gatti killed himself on July 11 in a seaside resort in northeastern Brazil.

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MONTREAL - Arturo Gatti got one last standing ovation on Monday as his family and the boxing world paid tribute to the former world champion from Montreal whose death at a Brazilian resort on July 11 remains a mystery.

An overflow crowd of about 1,000 packed Notre Dame de la Defense church in a north-end Italian neighbourhood for the funeral of one of the sport's most spectacular fighters. Gatti was 37 when he died, only two years after his retirement from the ring.

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NEW YORK - The last few weeks have shocked America with tales of two horrific, jealously-fueled murders. NFL great Steve McNair was murdered by his mistress in his Nashville condo, say police.

And in Brazil, big-hearted boxing champ Arturo Gatti was strangled to death by his exotic dancer wife while he drunkenly slept, according to Brazilian authorities.

The twin murders are as disturbing as they are salacious. But it's not the first time that sports and murder have crossed paths.

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RIO DE JANEIRO - The Brazilian wife of Arturo Gatti asked to be released from jail, where she is held on accusations she strangled the former boxing champion with her purse strap as he drunkenly slept.

Slide Show: Murdered Champ Remembered

Her lawyer told The Associated Press on Tuesday he petitioned a court to release Amanda Rodrigues while the investigation continues. Celio Avelino expects the court in Recife to rule on Wednesday at the earliest.

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NEW YORK - Boxing champion Arturo Gatti was known as a tough-as-nails fighter, who would not back down from a challenge. He rose to win the WBC junior welterweight title in 2004 and fought three stunning smash-mouth battles against Micky Ward, a series of fights that some have called the best of the 2000s. Ward would later become a good friend.

Slide Show: Murdered Champ Remembered

His take-no-prisoners style made him a hometown favorite in three countries.

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SAO PAULO - Boxing legend Arturo Gatti's stripper wife strangled the former champ to death with a purse strap while he slept, say Brazilian police, who have taken the 23-year-old dancer into custody.

The couple was vacationing at a posh seaside tourist resort in Brazil.

Police said Amanda Rodrigues was taken into custody after contradictions in her interrogation and presented a formal accusation against her. Prosecutors will later decide whether she will be charged.

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