by David P. Greisman
One-time cruiserweight title challenger Terry Ray will not spend any more time behind bars for French kissing a 14-year-old girl.
Ray was sentenced late last month to 18 months in jail, with all of that jail time suspended, according to the Terre-Haute (Ind.) Tribune-Star. He will instead be on probation.
The 48-year-old pleaded guilty in January to one count of sexual misconduct with a minor for a February 2010 incident in which he kissed the 14-year-old at a high school party at his house. Ray was not initially at the party but came home to it, the newspaper reported.
He’d also been facing one count each of child solicitation and sexual battery, charges that were dropped with his guilty plea.
Ray boxed from 1986 to 2001, compiling a record of 41 wins (25 by knockout), nine losses and one “No decision.” He challenged for a cruiserweight belt in 1998, losing via first-round technical knockout to Fabrice Tiozzo. Four months after that, he made a brief jaunt to heavyweight and lost to Brian Nielsen via fifth-round stoppage.
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