Posted at 9:58 a.m., Thursday, August 9, 2007
Boxing: Ex-flyweight champ Eric Morel out of prison
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. — Former WBA flyweight champion Eric Morel was released from prison today after serving time for sexually assaulting a teenage girl, and his lawyer said the boxer hopes to resume his career.Morel was sentenced to two years in prison and two years of extended supervision in 2005 after he pleaded no contest to second-degree sexual assault of a drunken 15-year-old girl in 2002.
Morel was released from Fox Lake Correctional Institution and will remain on extended supervision until October 2009, said John Dipko, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections.
Attorney Victor Arellano said the 31-year-old boxer has been getting in shape and plans to live in Madison, where his parents and other family members are.
"He wants to continue in what he does best," Arellano said. "He wants to continue in boxing and give it another try. He is still young and will come back strong and committed."
Morel, a 1996 Olympian, won the WBA title in 2000 in Madison. He successfully defended it five times before losing a unanimous decision to Lorenzo Parra in Puerto Rico in 2003.
