SPADAFORA Mean streets take toll

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- He calls himself the Pittsburgh Kid.
In reality, Paul Spadafora is a child of the mean streets of the nearby riverfront town of McKees Rocks, a gritty community where buying a beer will make you a friend for life but a menacing glare will earn you an enemy forever.
His mother, Annie, learned all about that as a bartender whose shots weren't always delivered in clear-bottomed glasses.
Spadafora joked that at one of his first professional fights, the best punch was thrown by his mother during a post-fight brawl that enveloped fighters, fans and family alike.
"When we were growing up," Spadafora's brother, Harry, said Tuesday, "all we had was boxing."
Developed fighting skills
Being raised in such a hardened environment allowed Paul Spadafora to acquire superior fighting skills long before he won the International Boxing Federation lightweight title in 1999 and earned more than a million dollars in purses.
But while Spadafora eventually made his way out of the tough town that so many never escape, friends and acquaintances say he never truly abandoned the place they call "the Rocks."
Now, just when he was on the verge of becoming a star far too big for just Pittsburgh, Spadafora is charged with shooting his girlfriend on one of those very streets he spent much of his adult life trying to leave behind.
Released on bond
Spadafora, 28, posted $50,000 bond and was released from jail Monday after being charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and violation of firearms laws.
According to Allegheny County police reports, Spadafora was seen yelling at his girlfriend, Nadine Russo, 20, of Pittsburgh, early Sunday morning near a gas station in McKees Rocks, just before she was shot in the chest.
The argument began after two tires on Spadafora's $50,000 sports utility vehicle were flattened during an accident. Russo apparently was driving because Spadafora's driver's license was suspended earlier this year for an alcohol-related offense.