Gatti won world championships designated by two different boxing boards in two different weight classes. He also participated in Ring Magazine's "fight of the year" a total of four times (1997, 1998, 2002 and 2003). He announced his retirement on July 14, 2007.[Arturo Gatti was a member of the Canadian National team, and was training to represent Canada at the 1992 Summer Games, but at age 19 (in 1991), he decided to turn pro instead. He began boxing professionally on the night of November 17, 1992.
His next fight, on March 24, 1993, was his first fight abroad, where he visited Amsterdam, Netherlands and knocked out Plawen Goutchev in round one.
In 1994, he beat Leon Bostic, and followed through with a win over Pete Taliaferro to win the USBA super featherweight title, by a knockout in round one. He retained the title against Richard Salazar and former world champion Jose Sanabria.On January 24, 2004, Gatti also recovered from a broken hand, scored a tenth round knock-down and defeated Gianluca Branco of Italy by a 12 round unanimous decision to win the vacant WBC junior welterweight title.
On July 24, 2004, he knocked out the previously unbeaten former world champion Leonard Dorin Doroftei in two rounds at Atlantic City, to retain his title.
Gatti's second defense of his WBC title came against former world junior lightweight champion Jesse James Leija on January 29, 2005. Gatti beat Leija by a fifth round knockout.That same night, Arturo's protege, Danny "Little Mac" McDermott won his pro debut.
In his next fight, Gatti fought former super featherweight and lightweight world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. on June 25, 2005. He took a horrific beating and Gatti's corner man threw in the towel after he was beaten around the ring, thus ending his title reign via sixth-round technical knockout.
After the loss to Mayweather, Gatti moved up to the welterweight division. He beat Thomas Damgaard on January 28, 2006, by an eleventh round technical knockout to win the vacant IBA welterweight title and became a champion in 3 different weight divisions.
On July 22, 2006, Gatti lost by a TKO Carlos Baldomir vying for the world welterweight championship. He then broke off his relationship with Buddy McGirt and had a new trainer in Micky Ward.
Gatti attempted a comeback on July 14, 2007, against Alfonso Gomez, only to get TKO'd by Gomez. After the fight, Gatti announced his retirement in the dressing room, reportedly quipping: "I'll be back — as a spectator".The Brazilian authorities initially ruled Gatti's death a homicide, but further studies revealed it was a suicide. Yet, almost a year later, in March 2010, the circumstances concerning Gatti's death remain unclear. All the reports are now at the Quebec coroner's office awaiting further investigation. Coroner Jean Brochu said, "We've been waiting for this for a long time," and "it's going to take a while" before conclusions can be made, and released to the public. A shortage of staff at the coroner's office is being blamed for contributing to the delay of the investigation. Regarding a new toxicology report being prepared, Brochu quipped that it "may take a century to get the results.
On August 23, 2011, it was reported that private investigators had concluded that Gatti's death was indeed a homicide. Australian hardcore band Toe to Toe named their 2010 album Arturo Gatti.
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