http://www.apbonline.com/newscenter/breakingnews/2000/12/12/ayala1212_01.html

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SAN ANTONIO (APBnews.com) — Troubled boxer Tony Ayala Jr., who served 16 years in a New Jersey prison for rape, was shot by a woman whose home he had broken into early this morning and was later arrested on a burglary charge, police said.

Ayala, 37, was in stable condition and under police guard today with a gunshot wound to his shoulder at University Hospital. San Antonio police Sgt. Gabriel Trevino said Ayala was arrested on charge of burglary of a habitation with the intent to commit assault.

The exact details of the incident are sketchy; the woman had told police she only casually knew Ayala, while the fighter’s manager claimed that the woman had been to Ayala’s house for dinner.

Cops: History of rapes

Police said Ayala, who has been convicted of committing brutal rapes in Texas and New Jersey, broke into a home at 215 Colleen St. at about 3:45 a.m. Two women and two children occupied the home, Trevino said.

When Ayala allegedly entered the residence, one of the women pulled a .45-caliber Glock pistol and shot Ayala in the shoulder, Trevino said. She then called police. Trevino said authorities were not releasing the name of the woman, who has not been arrested.

“We don’t know if he [Ayala] lives in the area,” Trevino said. “One of the women who lives at the residence told us that she knew [Ayala] from seeing him at a workout facility but was not dating him.”

Police said they did not know how Ayala entered the home.

Psychologist: Ayala knew victim

But Dr. Brian Raditz, a former New Jersey prison psychologist who later
became Ayala’s manager, said that the boxer knew the women.

“At this point, I really don’t have many of the specifics,” Raditz told APBnews.com. “I knew he was at a friend’s house and got shot in the shoulder. He knew the woman and she used to visit his house and have dinner.”

At the height of his boxing career in 1983, Ayala broke into the apartment of a New Jersey schoolteacher and savagely raped her. He was convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison. However, he was paroled from prison in 1999 and resumed his boxing career, according to New Jersey Department of Corrections officials.

Known as the ‘Little Bull’

Nigel Collins, editor and chief of The Ring magazine, said that before being arrested and imprisoned for the New Jersey rape, Ayala was the top-ranked junior middleweight contender by the World Boxing Association.

“A lot of people compared him to a young Roberto Doran,” Collins said. “He was a ferocious, hard-hitting, ruthless fighter. Obviously he was very popular as most fans always like slugger.”

Ayala is known in boxing circles as “El Torito” — the Little Bull. He is a former Gold Gloves champion and two-time Junior Olympic champion.

“If the charges are true, it would be a tragedy,” Collins said. “He had done his time and was supposed to be rehabilitated. He said all the right things and seemed sincere.”

Since being released from prison in New Jersey on April 20, 1999, Ayala, a native of San Antonio, resumed his boxing career and has had five fights. His last fight was a loss in July 2000. His career record stands at 26 wins, including 23 by knockout, and only one loss, Collins said.

Victim of child abuse?

But besides being a world-class fighter who was at one time just a step away from a title, Ayala has a history of alcohol abuse and violent sexual assaults. In past interviews, Ayala has stated that he was the victim of sexual assault by a family member as a child, but has refused to say who assaulted him.

When he was 15 years old, Ayala was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting a girl in a San Antonio drive-in. He later was granted probation after paying the victim $40,000, authorities said.

In 1983, Ayala was convicted of first-degree sexual assault for the rape of the New Jersey teacher in Passaic County. A spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Corrections said that Ayala had served his 15-year mandatory minimum sentence and was not on parole when he was released.

Robert Anthony Phillips is an APBnews.com senior writer ([email protected])