BoxRec

Boxer Paul Spadafora stabbed brother, fought with cops, according to police.


PITTSBURGH -- Former lightweight boxing champ Paul Spadafora is in jail for allegedly stabbing his brother during an argument and then fighting with police officers called to intervene, according to a criminal complaint.

Spadafora, 41, stabbed his brother in the thigh Wednesday night, then refused to cooperate once officers arrived, according to authorities. Spadafora also was charged with assaulting his mother.

Spadafora allegedly threatened police, telling his mother, "Get all their names. I know they have to live in the city. I'm gonna kill them." Police used a stun gun on Spadafora after he attempted to throw something at them, and they put a mask on him after he tried to spit on the officers, police said.

Spadafora was jailed overnight on charges including aggravated assault, terroristic threats and aggravated harassment by a prisoner, according to online court records.

"This time of year is always very emotional for families and family members, and we will patiently await to give further comment after the arraignment but before the preliminary hearing," defense attorney Phil DiLucente told The Associated Press in a text message.

Spadafora remained in the Allegheny County jail early Thursday, unable to immediately post $100,000 bail. His preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 4.

Spadafora has a long history of aggressive and drunken episodes and once served 13 months in a state prison boot camp for the shooting of his then-girlfriend in 2003.

More recently, Spadafora agreed in May to take anger management classes to resolve charges that he put a woman in a headlock at a Pittsburgh-area bar, drank her beer and then threw her down when she went outside to call police.

Police contend Spadafora baited patrons at the Redstone Tavern in Crafton on April 7 before grabbing the woman, though his attorney questioned whether the 63-year-old woman started the fight. She suffered scrapes to her knee and hand.

Spadafora also pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was fined $300 in May for another incident April 4 at a convenience store in Armstrong County.

A clerk told police Spadafora appeared to be drunk while holding a blueberry muffin in one hand and an opened, folding tactical knife in the other and yelling. DiLucente, who also represented Spadafora in that case, called it a "prank" and said Spadafora pulled the knife so he could spread butter on the muffin.

Spadafora's once-promising career has been marred by his arrests.

He won the vacant International Boxing Federation lightweight belt in August 1999 when he was 23, but he had to give up the belt after he was charged with shooting his girlfriend in October 2003. Spadafora was convicted and then was paroled in April 2006 after his boot camp sentence.

Spadafora was later arrested for violating his parole by violating a protection-from-abuse order the same girlfriend obtained in 2007, and he twice pleaded guilty after drunken driving arrests in 2011.

jockpunk wrote:Spadadora should probably just kill himself at this point. Would be best for everyone.

Lackeos wrote:Spadafora is basically one of the biggest jackasses in the sport.

jockpunk wrote:Spadadora should probably just kill himself at this point. Would be best for everyone.

jockpunk wrote:Spadadora should probably just kill himself at this point. Would be best for everyone.

sweetviolenturge wrote:You know what?
Under normal circumstances I would agree with everyone & say that what Jockpunk wrote was out of line but in this case? I don't know.
Everyone deserves a shot at redemption, but in Spadafora's case he's had several & between shooting his pregnant girlfriend, assaulting a woman at a bar, stabbing his brother & assaulting his own mother plus all the other issues that he's had with breaking the law over the years, it's not at all difficult to envision him killing someone next.
Of course, we can't know the future, so I won't go so far as to endorse his death, but I'd much rather that he take his own life than see him kill some innocent person.

boxingknockout wrote:Some people just turn into a demon when they drink. It's not an excuse. It can be symptomatic of underlying issues though

sweetviolenturge wrote:

boxingknockout wrote:Some people just turn into a demon when they drink. It's not an excuse. It can be symptomatic of underlying issues though

I grew up in a household rife with alcoholism suffered by both parents & my father's frequent physical abuse of my mother & her retaliations on him via stabbing & even shooting him once. Some pretty fucked up, horrific poo for my two sisters & I to witness as children.
So, I know all about those "underlying issues" of which you speak, because I certainly have them myself.
Including my own battles with alcohol & drugs, but I made a choice early on in life to never repeat the kinds of abusive behavior that I witnessed as a kid. I just rejected it out of hand & later on in life no matter how drunk I may have been & no matter how heated the arguments may have gotten with the women in my life, I NEVER put my hands on them.
As for bar fights & such, sure, I had more than the average amount I suppose, but I was never the instigator & I certainly never assaulted members of my own family for any reason.
So, why I do understand your point bk, I say that many men like Spadafora use their issues with substance abuse & their rough childhoods as an excuse for the reprehensible behavior.

boxingknockout wrote:

sweetviolenturge wrote:

boxingknockout wrote:Some people just turn into a demon when they drink. It's not an excuse. It can be symptomatic of underlying issues though

I grew up in a household rife with alcoholism suffered by both parents & my father's frequent physical abuse of my mother & her retaliations on him via stabbing & even shooting him once. Some pretty fucked up, horrific poo for my two sisters & I to witness as children.
So, I know all about those "underlying issues" of which you speak, because I certainly have them myself.
Including my own battles with alcohol & drugs, but I made a choice early on in life to never repeat the kinds of abusive behavior that I witnessed as a kid. I just rejected it out of hand & later on in life no matter how drunk I may have been & no matter how heated the arguments may have gotten with the women in my life, I NEVER put my hands on them.
As for bar fights & such, sure, I had more than the average amount I suppose, but I was never the instigator & I certainly never assaulted members of my own family for any reason.
So, why I do understand your point bk, I say that many men like Spadafora use their issues with substance abuse & their rough childhoods as an excuse for the reprehensible behavior.

Thanks for your honesty. And that you understand nothing is ever simple. Merry Christmas!

jewboypgh wrote:Seen this kid from the start. Sorry to see this nonsense go down. Drugs and booze ruin everything. Ain't nothing good ever come out of McKees Rox except Mancini's bread. The Rox is a wasteland.