ON THE SIDELINES : Ex-Boxer Beat Wife, Witness Says

Two witnesses testifying at the murder trial of former world middleweight boxing champion Carlos Monzon said Monday that he beat his wife and threw her from a second-floor balcony like a “sack of potatoes.”

“He gave her a one-two combination of cross punches to the face and she fell to the floor,” said Rafael Crisanto Baez, a 57-year-old rubbish collector who passed by the Monzon vacation house with his junk cart on the day of her death, Feb. 14, 1988.

Monzon testified in his own defense Monday, both denying and admitting that he hit his wife. He denied throwing her off the balcony.

Monzon stared at Baez impassively during Tuesday’s session. Defense attorney Jorge de la Canale asked that the witness be prosecuted for perjury. But a second witness, Rafael Moyano, a waiter in a bar, later testified he also saw Monzon beat his wife and throw her from the balcony.

The public phase of the trial is expected to continue until Friday, with testimony from 31 witnesses.