Boxing: Spadafora charged for public drunkenness

Associated Press

MERCER, Pa. -- Former lightweight champion Paul Spadafora was charged with public drunkenness and acting dangerously in a car, his third arrest in less than a year.

Spadafora was a passenger Sunday when he tried to put the car in park while it was moving, police said. He also was charged with disorderly conduct and recklessly endangering another person. He was in jail Monday after failing to post $10,000 bond.

Calls to his promoter went unanswered.

In October, the boxer was charged with attempted homicide, accused of shooting girlfriend Nadine Russo. The charges are unresolved, but Spadafora and Russo filed for a marriage license in February.

Also in February, Spadafora was convicted of disorderly conduct and public intoxication for urinating on a street while intoxicated two days before Russo was shot. Spadafora said that month he had not been drinking for nearly two months following a stint at a Maryland treatment center.

In July, the ex-IBF lightweight champ won his second straight fight since moving up to junior welterweight when he stopped Francisco Campos in the third round. Spadafora, who is undefeated, had given up his IBF 135-pound title in 2003 and said he was moving up to junior welterweight, where he could maintain his weight.