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Artuto Gatti's wife, Amanda Rodrigues, is now in police custody after the legendary pugilist was found dead Saturday in San Paulo, Brazil. Rodrigues reportedly made contradictory statements under as she was interrogated by police and is the chief suspect in Gatti's death.



Gatti was reportedly strangled with the strap of a purse, which also had blood on the scene of the crime. Unconfirmed reports suggest the pair had been arguing and that Brazilian getaway was a "second honeymoon." Other reports say Gatti was drunk at the time of his death.

Rodrigues has denied any involvement in the murder.

PREVIOUSLY

In a sudden, tragic turn of events, boxing legend Arturo Gatti was found dead in his hotel in Brazil, ESPN reports. Foul play is already suspected in the death of the former boxing champion, who was found in a lavish hotel in San Paulo, Porto de Galihnas early Saturday. Gatti arrived to San Paulo on Friday with his wife and year old son. Polic have ramped up their investigative efforts.

"It is still too early to say anything concrete, although it is all very strange," Police investigator Edilson Alves told The Associated Press. "There were no bullet or stab wounds on his body, but police did find blood stains on the floor.”

Neither the mother nor the son were injured, police said. Brazilian boxer and and Gatti friend Acelino "Popo" Freitas said that the former champ was having marital problems. He said he "knew they were having some sort of problem and were about to separate, but I didn't know they were in Brazil." To further compound the investigation, police say Gatti may have been dead up to eight hours prior to being discovered on Saturday.

UPDATE

THE wife of former world boxing champion Arturo Gatti has been charged with murdering him by strangling him with a purse strap.



Brazilian authorities charged Gatti's wife Amanda Rodrigues, 23, and allege she used the strap of her purse to strangle the former junior welterweight champion in his sleep in a hotel room. Authorities had earlier detained Rodrigues as a suspect because of contradictions in her story when she was first interrogated, police said, explaining that she was "inconsistent and incoherent." Rodrigues, a Brazilian, could not explain how she spent nearly 10 hours in the room without noticing that Gatti was already dead, authorities said.

The purse was found stained with blood in their hotel room at the luxurious Porto de Galinhas resort in northeastern Brazil, where the couple was vacationing - apparently to attend the graduation of a relative.

Boxing legend Arturo Gatti's sexy stripper-wife choked the life out of him with her purse strap while he slept in a swanky Brazilian resort, cops charged Sunday. Amanda Carine Barbosa Rodrigues, a 23-year-old former exotic dancer, looked unfazed as cops escorted her out of a police station in Recife, Brazil. The stunner's eyes were hidden by giant designer sunglasses as she walked to a police cruiser in low-rise blue jeans and a clingy white top that showed off the toned physique that first caught Gatti's eye. The busty bombshell's purse was found stained with blood in their rented apartment at the luxurious Dorisol Resort in the turquoise-water paradise town of Porto de Galinhas.

"She is the only suspect," a police spokesman said.

The couple - who had met while she danced at a club in Brazil - were vacationing there to celebrate a second honeymoon after rekindling their relationship following a brief breakup, friends said. Carl Moretti, who promoted many of Gatti's fights, said he always worried the 37-year-old former Jersey City star spent too much time in strip clubs picking up the wrong women. "Among friends who knew him, no one felt that this was a good relationship," Moretti said. "The relationship was not based on love. It could get violent at times." Moretti said he had heard through Gatti's manager, Pat Lynch, that Rodrigues threw a lamp at Gatti on a recent trip to Montreal.

"They were always fighting," he said. "It never stopped. But clearly, you didn't think that it would lead to this." Authorities detained the tight-bodied beauty early yesterday because of contradictions in her story when she was first questioned. Police called her version of what had happened "inconsistent and incoherent." Rodrigues could not explain how she had spent nearly 10hours in the room without noticing that Gatti was dead, authorities said. The couple went to a bar Friday night and began to argue, witnesses said. Rodrigues told cops Gatti got drunk, hit her and pushed her to the floor. Witnesses said the two were still fighting when they returned from the bar early Saturday morning. Rodrigues was being examined at the Medical Legal Institute near their vacation spot and will spend the night in prison. Gatti, who won 40 of his 49 professional fights, including 31 by knockout, was raised in Montreal but became a star in Atlantic City, where he won his first title. He moved to New Jersey in 1991 and delighted crowds there until his retirement in 2007.

Nicknamed Thunder, he won world championships in two different weight classes, 130 pounds and 140pounds. "She murdered her husband and left her child an orphan," said Lou DiBella, a former executive at HBO who put together several of Gatti's more memorable fights.

"Now she's going to spend the rest of her life in prison. This is just too much a tragedy."