Arturo Gatti Jr., son of former boxing world champion, dead at 17

Arturo Gatti Jr. (Arturo Gatti Jr./Instagram)

Arturo Gatti Jr., the son of former two-weight world champion Arturo Gatti, has died.

He was 17.

The teenager was found dead in an apartment in Mexico earlier this week.

The World Boxing Council (WBC) confirmed the news on social media.

“Words fail to describe the deep sorrow the entire boxing family feels upon the passing of Arturo Gatti Jr.,” it wrote. “He is now with his beloved father in heaven for eternity. May his soul rest in eternal peace.”

The cause of the teen’s death has not been confirmed.

His father, Montreal boxer and world champion Arturo Gatti, 37, died on July 11, 2009, to suicide in his hotel in Ipojuca, Bra., where he was vacationing with his wife, Amanda Rodrigues, and Gatti Jr., then ten months old.

At the time, Rodrigues was arrested for homicide, but was released after an autopsy done in Brazil ruled his death a suicide.

His funeral was held on July 20, 2009, in Montreal’s Little Italy, and he is buried at the Laval Cemetery.

Several members of the boxing community have spoken out about Gatti Jr.’s death, expressing condolences to his family.