NEWS

Former boxer arrested for beating man to death in central Athens

A 39-year-old former boxing champion has been accused of beating a 28-year-old man to death in the central Athenian district of Omonia on Tuesday.

According to reports, the victim got into a verbal altercation with the owner of a restaurant after a friend of the 28-year-old said he owed her 700 euros in wages. The victim and another man faced the owner on the waitress’s behalf and demanded that she be paid the arrears. The restaurant owner responded by calling in the 39-year-old suspect, who is believed to have worked as a bouncer for the restaurateur.

The ethnic Greek boxer from the former Soviet Union allegedly punched the 28-year-old, identified only by his initials, A.D., repeatedly in the face and around the head with metal-lined gloves. Witnesses allegedly told investigating officers that he continued to beat the victim once he had fallen on the ground.

The 28-year-old died at an Athens hospital as a result of his injuries, a coroner confirmed after finding evidence of extensive trauma to his skull. He was buried on Friday in his hometown in Ileia in the Peloponnese.

Police said that the boxer confessed to punching the victim twice, but claims that a group of passers-by continued to beat him after he had fallen on the ground.

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