Carlos Monzon, a former middleweight champion who was convicted of killing his girlfriend six years ago, died Sunday in a car accident. He was 52.
Police said Monzon was killed in a one-car accident in Santa Rosa de Calchines, a small town some 300 miles north of Buenos Aires. Monzon lived in Santa Fe, 22 miles from Santa Rosa de Calchines.Monzon was convicted in 1988 of killing his estranged lover during a fight. Alicia Muniz, 32, fell from a second-story apartment balcony in the coastal resort of Mar del Plata.
Monzon said it was an accident, but an autopsy showed Muniz was strangled to the point of unconsciousness before she was hurled from the balcony.
The killing gripped Argentina, where Monzon was a hero of matinee idol proportions. The boxer was sentenced to 11 years in prison but was free on a furlough program when the car crash occurred.
Monzon was an outstanding middleweight. He won the crown on Nov. 7, 1970 in a 12th-round knockout of Nino Benvenuti in Rome and had a record 14 title defenses before retiring in 1977.
In 101 bouts, Monzon won 89, 61 by knockout, lost three, drew eight and had one no contest.
Monzon rose from humble beginnings as one of 12 children in Santa Fe, shining shoes, selling newspapers and lugging sides of beef in a meat-packing plant.
The incident that resulted in the death of Muniz, whom he met in 1978 on a flight to Europe, wasn't Monzon's first touch with violence outside the ring.
He was charged with striking a photographer at a Christmas party in 1967, injuring the man's eye. On three other occasions, he was charged with beating men in fights, once at his mother-in-law's house, another at a discoteque and at a casino.