by David P. Greisman

Damaen Kelly, a former flyweight contender who fought once for a world title, has been sentenced to 120 hours of community service and two years of probation for attacking his wife in April 2009, according to BBC News.

Kelly, 39, was found guilty by a jury last month of wounding his wife. He had also pleaded guilty prior to that trial to assaulting his wife and smashing her cell phone, Northern Ireland television station UTV reported. Kelly had been accused of hitting her head against a bedroom wall and strangling her.

The jury found Kelly not guilty, meanwhile, “of wounding her with intent to cause her grievous bodily harm,” according to the UTV article.

Kelly fought from 1997 to 2006, going 22-4 with 10 knockouts. He faced beltholder Irene Pacheco in 2003, losing via seventh-round technical knockout.

David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow David on Twitter at twitter.com/fightingwords2 or on Facebook at facebook.com/fightingwordsboxing, or send questions and comments to fightingwords1@gmail.com