**Former world boxing champion Arturo Gatti has been found dead in a hotel room in north east Brazil.**The Canadian’s body was discovered on Saturday at a holiday resort where he had gone with his wife and son.
Italian-born Gatti, 37, was IBF super-featherweight champion in 1995 and WBC light-welterweight champion in 2004. He retired in 2007.
Wounds were found on his body, according to reports, but the cause of death has not yet been confirmed.
“It is still too early to say anything concrete, although it is all very strange,” police investigator Edilson Alves was quoted as saying.
A spokeswoman for the Pernambuco public safety department confirmed that Gatti’s wife and one-year-old son were unhurt.
The family had arrived in the resort of Porto de Galinhas on Friday.
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Gatti’s career spanned 49 fights and he won 40 of them, 31 by knockout.
He eventually retired two years ago following a seventh-round knockout defeat by Alfonso Gomez.
Kathy Duva, of Gatti’s promoters Main Events, described his death as an “unspeakable tragedy”.
She said: "His entire boxing career he fought with us, we’ve known him since he was 17.
“He just captured the imagination of so many people.”
Duva added: "I remember walking away from his last fight and somebody walked up to him in the casino late at night and congratulated him
“He said ‘Why did he congratulate me’ and I said ‘He was excited to meet you’ and he kind of looked very surprised by that. He had no idea what an icon he was or how much he meant to people.”