(6-10-08)

McAllen man charged with murder of Mexican boxer

McALLEN, Texas (AP) - A 20-year-old McAllen man has been charged
with murder in the shooting death of former Mexican boxing star
Roque "Rocky" Montoya.
The 47-year-old Montoya died Saturday of wounds from a May 21st
shooting at a downtown McAllen bar.
Elias De Leon Jr. was arraigned on the murder charge the next
day and is jailed on bonds totaling more than 2 million dollars.
Officials tell The Monitor in McAllen that De Leon apparently
held a grudge against Montoya, who was a former rival of De Leon's
boxer father. The officials say De Leon was thrown out of the bar
when a fight started, but later returned with a sawed-off shotgun.
Montoya was a native of Reynosa, Mexico. He won the Texas light
featherweight title in 1980 and went on to win and defend the
Mexican national lightweight boxing title six times in the 1980s.
He retired in 1992 with a record of 21 wins, 15 losses and two
ties.
De Leon was originally facing three attempted murder charges for
the three people caught by the blast. The other two patrons
suffered minor injuries.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)