MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) -Former welterweight champion Ricardo Mayorga was released from prison pending a trial on fraud charges in the latest legal battle for the boxer.
Mayorga was set free early Saturday after his lawyer filed an injunction against his detention, national police spokesman Cesar Augusto Cuadra said.
Nicaragua daily El Nuevo Heraldo reported that Mayorga flew to Miami later Saturday. However, Cuadra could not confirm that Mayorga had left the country.
Mayorga was first arrested on Tuesday at Managua airport as he boarded a plane for Miami. He was jailed in Leon, 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Managua, on charges he never paid a local car dealer US$56,000 (?43,000) for four cars.
Local prosecutors dismissed the case as a civil matter, and he was to be released. But before he was set free, he was arrested again on Thursday and jailed after three people accused him of writing bad checks worth US$87,000 (?67,000).
Mayorga was convicted last year of raping a 22-year-old woman at a Managua hotel, but the boxer appealed the conviction to Nicaragua's Supreme Court. Nicaraguan laws allow Mayorga to remain free in the meantime.
Mayorga acknowledged having sex with the woman but said it was consensual.
Mayorga, a former WBA and WBA welterweight champion, lost his last fight and the WBC light middleweight crown in May to Oscar De La Hoya.
