Paul Spadafora put woman in semi-headlock, Pittsburgh police say

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The incident happened Wednesday in a Crafton, Pittsburgh bar
Witnesses say Paul Spadafora, 40, 'appeared intoxicated' when he entered
They say he then challenged patrons, including the woman, to a fight
He has been charged with assault
In 2003, he was sentenced to five years in prison for shooting his girlfriend
He was released on parole after 18 months

Published: 19:32 EST, 7 April 2016 | Updated: 23:53 EST, 7 April 2016

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Former lightweight boxing champ Paul Spadafora put a 63-year-old woman in a semi-headlock at a Pittsburgh bar, drank some of her beer and then threw her to the ground when she went outside to call police, authorities say.

Spadafora, who has been charged with assault, calls himself The Pittsburgh Kid and won the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) belt in August 1999. He suffered his only professional loss two-and-a-half years ago after struggling to mount a comeback since serving time in jail.

Witnesses told police that Spadafora, 40, appeared to be intoxicated when he arrived at the Redstone Tavern in Crafton on Wednesday and proceeded to challenge patrons - including the woman - to box.

'Headlock': Ex-boxing champ Paul Spadafora (pictured in 2006) has been charged with assault after allegedly putting a 63-year-old woman in a headlock and shoving her to the ground outside a Pittsburgh bar

He then placed her in a semi-headlock while he drank from her beer, police said, and when she went outside to call 911, he followed and threw her to the ground

Spadafora had left before police arrived, Chief Mark Sumpter said.

The boxer will be mailed a summons to appear May 19 for a preliminary hearing on charges of simple assault and harassment.

In October 2003 Spadafora was sentenced to up to five years in prison for shooting his ex-girlfriend, before being paroled in April 2006. His attempts to resurrect his career have been interrupted by brushes with the law.

He violated his parole when he was arrested in May 2007 after the ex-girlfriend obtained a protection-from-abuse order, in which she says he pulled her hair and choked her.

The former champ was 40-0-1 when he went to jail and has won nine out of ten fights since parole, most coming after he moved to Erie to train and stay away from the Pittsburgh area where he's been arrested several times, including twice for drunken driving in 2011.

He pleaded guilty to both drunk-driving counts.

Spadafora has split his last two fights, defeating Hector Velazquez at Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh on July 11, 2014, and suffering his only professional loss on November 30, 2013, to Johan Perez at Mountaineer Racetrack and Resort in West Virginia.

The boxer did not respond to a request for comment sent by Associated Press through his website. Online court records don't list an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

A relative said she hadn't heard from him in more than a year.