Sherman Griffin, the newly crowned U.S. Boxing...

Sherman Griffin, the newly crowned U.S. Boxing Assn. cruiserweight champion, is recovering from gunshot wounds he received while allegedly trying to rob a couple at a Houston motel early Saturday, authorities said. The injuries probably will end his boxing career, his manager and agent said.

Griffin, 24, was shot four times by a clerk at the Regency Inn motel after he allegedly beat open the door of a couple’s room, said Harris County Sheriff’s Sgt. J. J. Freeze. Griffin, who had won the USBA cruiserweight title just four days before the incident, was in fair condition Tuesday at Ben Taub Hospital.

Doctors said they would not remove a bullet lodged near Griffin’s spine because the operation could result in paralysis.

Griffin was under police guard after being charged with two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of burglary. His trainer, Henry Harris, said Griffin told him that he was trying to stop an argument between the couple when the shooting occurred.

Previously, Griffin had been free on $20,000 bail after being charged in a Jan. 30 armed robbery of a Houston video store, said Danny Turner, spokesman for the Houston Police Department.