When Arturo Gatti Jr., a 17‑year‑old senior at Steinert High School, died early Thursday morning, the shock rippled through New Jersey’s tight‑knit wrestling community. The official word from the Middlesex County Medical Examiner's Office says he passed at 3:45 a.m. EDT on October 7, 2025, at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. A previously undiagnosed bicuspid aortic valve with severe stenosis caused acute respiratory failure, doctors confirmed. The tragedy hits hard because his mother, Amanda Gatti, and legendary boxer father, the late Arturo Gatti Sr., already carry a heavy public legacy. Yet the story goes deeper: the International Boxing Hall of Fame pledged $250,000 to a memorial fund, turning grief into a push for heart‑defect research. Here’s why this matters to anyone with a teenager on a sports field.
