Monzon, Former Boxing Champion, Is Charged With Killing Estranged Wife

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina —  Former world champion boxer Carlos Monzon was charged Sunday with killing his estranged wife during an early morning fight in which she fell to her death from the balcony of an apartment, police said.

Monzon, 45, world middleweight champion from 1970 until retiring in 1977, suffered two broken ribs and a broken clavicle during the fight and was hospitalized in this beach resort 250 miles south of Buenos Aires, authorities said.

Police said Alicia Muniz, Monzon’s third wife, was pronounced dead at the scene of the fight. The incident occurred at an apartment where Muniz, a part-time actress, was staying with television actor Adrian Martel, police said.

Police said the estranged pair argued loudly at about 6:45 a.m., exchanged blows and that Muniz fell from the second story balcony to the street.

In February, 1973, Monzon was shot twice but not seriously injured during an argument with his wife, Ana Maria.