One of many sport’s good guys has made the media rounds for one in every of his worst days.

Veteran ring Joe Antonacci was not too long ago charged with assault and prison defacement stemming from a springtime street rage incident in Elmhurst, Illinois, in line with a report from Patch.com. Antonacci—a New Jersey native who now lives within the Chicago suburb of Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois—was arrested in mid-June, weeks after the April 29 incident in query the place he finally confessed to yelling at one other driver and spitting on his automotive after initially denying the incident.

Police data obtained by BoxingScene.com point out that an arrest warrant was generated on June 17. The 61-year-old Antonacci appeared earlier than the decide on June 27 within the 18th Judicial Circuit Cort of Dupage County, Illinois, and was formally charged with one rely of assault.  

Based on the report filed with Metropolis of Elmhurst Police Division, an unidentified 27-year-old male referred to as authorities after he was approached by a motorist driving a Lexus on Illinois Route 83 on April 29. The aggressor—recognized weeks later as Antonacci—pulled over, exited the Lexus and approached the alleged sufferer’s automobile.

The model shared by the unidentified sufferer was that Antonacci screamed, “Pussy, get out of the fuckin’ automotive” after which reached into the automobile when the 27-year-old motorist wouldn’t comply. The alleged sufferer then secured his automobile to stop Antonacci from coming into, at which period the ring announcer—often known as a comic and copyright proprietor of the recreated ‘Joe Palooka’ comedian ebook collection—spat on the automotive, forsaking residue.

The investigation ran via early June, at which level it was closed after failing to develop any enough results in establish the suspect in query. The police report signifies that the case was reopened after a police officer from Streamwood, a northwestern Chicago suburb, recognized an enclosed photograph with the alert concerning the incident.

Police then visited the Oakbrook Terrace residence of Antonacci, who initially denied any data of the case earlier than confessing to his position within the incident. Based on the report, Antonacci instructed authorities that the opposite driver “flipped me off” (prolong the center finger within the course of one other celebration), which he took as a private assault which triggered his response. Antonacci’s recollection was approaching the opposite motorist and telling me to ‘Be a person and get out of the automotive.’ He additionally claims that the motive force honked his horn at him and tried to cease brief in entrance of his Lexus whereas each had been driving alongside Route 83.

Antonacci additionally confessed to spitting on the opposite automobile after initially claiming that his actions had been restricted to rapping on the opposite driver’s automotive window. The 61-year-old knowledgeable the interviewing officer that the incident weighed on his thoughts within the weeks after the interplay, understanding that street rage is a worsening epidemic all through the nation.

The irony within the incident is that Antonacci is understood all through the fight sports activities world as ‘Gentleman Joe,’ an identifiable determine from his buzzcut and customary tuxedo as he’s labored boxing occasions on almost each main platform. The emcee was a staple of the now-defunct ESPN2 Friday Night time Battle collection and likewise the common ring announcer for New Jersey-based promotional outfit Important Occasions.

Antonacci reportedly donated a big portion of his ring announcer earnings to native beginner boxing packages and retired and disabled boxers in want. He has additionally emerged as an award-winning comic, whereas additionally revamping the Joe Palooka comedian ebook collection that beforehand chronicled the lifetime of a fictional heavyweight champion. Antonacci’s 2012 reboot depicts a Blended Martian Arts fighter.

Antonacci is subsequent on account of seem in court docket on July 25.

Jake Donovan is a senior author for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox