Newz Forum: BOXING: Boxer Ayala ordered back to jail

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Boxer Tony Ayala, known as ``El Torito,'' was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday for violating terms of the probation he was serving from a burglary conviction.

Ayala refused to submit to a drug test earlier this month after he was stopped for speeding and charged with possessing drug paraphernalia. That was enough for State District Judge Maria Teresa Herr to order him back to prison.

The 41-year-old boxer was convicted in 2001 of burglary with intent to commit aggravated assault after he broke into a San Antonio home. An occupant in the home shot Ayala in the shoulder during the break-in.

Ayala has had several other brushes with the law since returning to San Antonio in 1999 after serving a 16-year prison sentence in New Jersey on a rape conviction. He had a promising boxing career before he entered jail at age 20, and resumed the sport again with mixed results after his release.

In December 2002, he was jailed on accusations of assaulting a 14-year-old girl but was released on probation after the girl admitted she lied.

In November 2003, Ayala was jailed again for speeding. At the time of the traffic stop, he had four outstanding traffic warrants.