NEW YORK – A former boxer who says he sustained permanent brain damage in a 2000 bout against Arturo Gatti is now suing, saying Gatti weighed too much for the fight.

Lewiston native Joey Gamache, 39, and his wife filed a lawsuit in federal court Feb. 21 alleging breach of contract over the Feb. 26, 2000 bout at Madison Square Garden. Gatti won the fight.

By contract, both fighters had to weigh 141 pounds by at least eight hours before the bout started, according to the suit filed by lawyer Keith Sullivan. Gatti made weight the day before the fight, but the suit said his weight was “falsely represented” then and that he was actually 160 pounds by the time he got into the ring the next day.

Gatti overwhelmed Gamache in the first round and the fight was stopped 20 seconds into Round Two, but Gamache was hospitalized for two days afterward, the suit said.

Gamache, who suffers from migraine headaches he attributes to the beating.