By Sue Montgomery

The slugfest over Arturo Gatti's estate seems to be entering the final round.

The champion boxer's younger brother and his widow, who have been arch enemies since Gatti was found dead in Brazil in July 2009, were locked in closed door talks with their lawyers all day Tuesday in an attempt to hammer out a deal.

Pierre-Hugues Fortin, representing widow Amanda Rodrigues, emerged late in the day sounding optimistic.

"They are very serious discussions and we'll continue," he said. "Hopefully, we'll come up with a settlement and tomorrow morning we'll have good news."

Rodrigues has been adamant since legal proceedings began three weeks ago that she wouldn't negotiate with the Gatti family over the wishes of her dead husband to leave everything to her.

The family claims Rodrigues pressured Gatti to sign a 2009 will - just weeks before his death - and alleges the welterweight champion didn't commit suicide, as officials claim, but was murdered while on vacation in Rodrigues's native Brazil.

They want his will from 2007 - of which no one has a signed copy - to be honoured. It leaves everything to Gatti's mother, his brother and Sofia, his daughter from another union.

Rodrigues seemed to soften her "no negotiation" stance Monday during testimony before Quebec Superior Court by Gatti's younger brother Fabrizio. He suggested the boxer's fortune - an estimated $3.4 million in assets - be split evenly between his two children, and that Rodrigues get nothing.

His daughter, however, is already financially secure. After his breakup with the girl's mother, Erika Rivera, Gatti was ordered by the courts to set up a $1-million support fund, as well as a $100,000 education fund. He also paid $250,000 toward a house. But the son he had with Rodrigues would get nothing, Fabrizio Gatti said.

It's not clear how a settlement in this case will affect other cases involving the Gatti estate, such as a wrongful-death suit filed in New Jersey against Rodrigues by Rivera. All of Gatti's assets were recently frozen as a result of that case. Another lawsuit has been filed in Florida against the estate, claiming $5 million in damages for a man Gatti punched in the face.

Testimony at the Montreal courthouse at times verged on a soap-opera script with friends of the Gatti family describing Rodrigues as a pottymouthed, spoiled princess who was after Gatti's money.

Rodrigues was 19 when she met Gatti, then 33. They married two years later and by most accounts had such a tumultuous marriage that Gatti often slept at his mother's house in Montreal.

Rodrigues admitted to having keyed his truck, and Gatti's friends testified once she gave him a black eye.

Sue Montgomery is a reporter for the Montreal Gazette.