New domestic strife stops Bobbitt boxing

Keith Paul

Wednesday, May 15, 2002 | 9:52 a.m.

John Wayne Bobbitt, who gained notoriety when his then-wife cut off his penis while he slept, remained in jail this morning after being charged with beating his new wife.

The time in jail apparently cost Bobbitt, 35, his chance to get into the ring with an equally infamous opponent -- Joey Buttafuoco -- for a bout on "Celebrity Boxing 2" on the Fox Television network.

Metro Police arrested Bobbitt about 10 p.m. Monday on a domestic battery charge and he was booked into the Las Vegas city jail.

Bobbitt's wife of nearly two months, Joanne Forcinel, 31, called 911 saying she needed medical attention. An officer went to Bobbitt's home near Buffalo and Vegas drives, where Forcinel told him she had been attacked by Bobbitt.

An argument started after Forcinel told Bobbitt she didn't want to go to the boxing match in California. But then Forcinel went back into the garage, where Bobbitt was, and told him "I was leaving him. It was over," according to a police report.

"As soon as I said that, John Wayne Bobbitt, my husband, became physical with me," Forcinel said in the report. "He picked me up off my feet and threw me hard down on the concrete floor of the garage."

The 6-foot, 200-pound Bobbitt is then accused of hitting his knee into the buttock of the 5-foot-8, 120-pound Forcinel.

"I somehow screamed and crawled to the phone yelling for him to stop. Telling him he has hurt me real bad," she said in the report.

Forcinel was transported to Summerlin Hospital, where she was treated and released.

Bobbitt posted the $5,115 bail Tuesday morning, but Nevada Parole and Probation told jail officials to hold him. Bobbitt was then taken to the Clark County jail and held without bail on a probation violation this morning.

While Bobbitt was in jail a weigh-in for the fight was occurring in California. Buttafuoco's new opponent will be former World Wrestling Federation wrestler Chyna, whose real name is Joanie Laurer. The fight is scheduled to be shown on May 22 on Fox.

Bobbitt was previously convicted of domestic battery in 1994 in Clark County and sentenced to 30 days in jail and ordered to complete a counseling program.

He was sentenced to probation after he pleaded guilty in 1999 to attempted grand larceny in connection with $140,000 worth of clothing stolen from a now-closed store in Fallon in 1997.

Buttafuoco received notoriety for his affair with Amy Fisher, an underage girl called by the media the "Long Island Lolita." Fisher went to jail after shooting and wounding Buttafuoco's then wife, Mary Jo.