Former two-weight boxing world champion Arturo Gatti has been found dead in a hotel room in north east Brazil.
Gatti had arrived at a resort in Porto de Galinhas on Friday evening with his wife and one-year-old son.
He was discovered dead with wounds on his body on Saturday morning and although police officials admit the circumstances of the 37-year-old's death are "very strange", no cause of death has been established yet.
Reports have confirmed that his wife and son were unharmed.
A spokeswoman for the public safety department of Pernambuco state told the Associated Press: "There were no bullet or stab wounds on his body, but police did find blood stains on the floor."
The Italian-born Canadian retired from boxing in 2007 following a defeat to Alfonso Gomez.
It was a quiet end to what had been a glittering career that saw Gatti take on some of the best fighters of his generation.
Having become IBF super-featherweight champion in 1995 Gatti was crowned WBC light-welterweight champion in 2004 when he beat Gianluca Branco.
Gatti defended the title twice before losing it to Floyd Mayweather Junior in 2005.
'Thunder', as Gatti was known in the ring, also fought Oscar de la Hoya in 2001 but lost to the multi-weight champion by technical knockout in the fifth round.
Gatti's career record when he retired was 40 wins from 49 fights with 31 of them coming by knockout.
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