Vinny Pazienza, the rough and tumble former champion from Cranston, Rhode Island, doesn?t go looking for trouble. Trouble goes looking for him?
?I boxed wild. I fought like a wild man. I wasn?t worried about bleeding, I just wanted to win.??Vinny Pazienza
Vinny Pazienza (50-10, 30 KOs), the rough and tumble former champion from Cranston, Rhode Island, doesn?t go looking for trouble.
Trouble goes looking for him.
Vinny Paz was arraigned this morning on one count each of domestic assault and domestic disorderly conduct after an incident last at his Tivoli Court home.
According to Warwick Police Chief Stephen McCartney, police received a telephone call from an out-of-state caller shortly before 3:00 a.m., alleging that Paz had attacked his girlfriend, who ?had barricaded herself in a bathroom out of fear.?
Officers responded to the call. When they arrived at the former champion?s home, they heard screams. They also, said Colonel McCartney, saw the lights inside the house being shut off. No one answered the door. Firefighters busted through a garage door to gain entry to the residence.
The police found Pazienza on the second floor. He told the cops that he and his girlfriend were drinking in a Warwick bar earlier in the night and that he was the victim. He was taken into custody without further incident or ado.
Paz?s girlfriend was shaken but not seriously hurt. She was taken to Kent County Hospital for treatment and observation. ?There were,? the Police Chief said, ?clear signs of an assault.?
There?s no love lost between the Providence Journal, Paz?s hometown paper, and its readers when it comes to the local boy made good.
David Crosbysliver played the geography card. ?Make us proud, vinny. You make me ashamed to be a Cranstonian.?
Lois Smith cut to the chase and asked, ?Why is this guy such an idiot??
Dave Russo had a soulful response, ?Can?t help himself as he?s always in some kinda trouble. What?s the odds he has CTE. Not an excuse, just an explanation.?
Dave Park isn?t big on explanations. ?How many breaks does this guy get? Will be a tough pill for ?leaders? around here to swallow when the ?Former five-time boxing champion Vinny Paz? does something that can?t be fixed while out on bail.?
Bruce Johnson is a man of few words but essentially agrees: ?Once a thug always a thug. RI?s own little man.?
Bryar Michon wants to cut Paz some slack. ?Sad,? he wrote, ?but anyone who knows this guy is not surprised.?
Gladys Dixin is not surprised. Nor is she sad. ?Sad? What makes this sad? There?s nothing sad about this.
?No different than any other loser beating someone up.?
After ?Hang ?em high? Alice and her posse of malcontents, is there anything left to say?
If Beverly Lawton King can be believed, it seems there is.
?Bully. Should have grown up a long time ago. A living excuse for what?s the use.?
Nolo contendere
Pazienza pleaded no contest to the charge that he assaulted his girlfriend and received a one-year suspended sentence and a year of probation.
Standing outside the courthouse after his sentencing, Paz told reporters,?Nothing happened. I?m always innocent.?
