SAN ANTONIO -- Once a promising boxer, then a prison inmate, then a boxer again, Tony Ayala Jr. began the fight of his life on Monday. Not in a ring, but in a courtroom.

Ayala, 38, goes on trial on felony charges of burglary with intent to commit sexual assault. Already a convicted rapist, he could go to prison for life if he's found guilty.

"He's very anxious," said Ayala's attorney, Jimmy Parks. "Not only over the exposure a case like this brings, but the chance of going to prison for the rest of his life."

Jury selection began Monday in the court of District Judge Sam Katz. He expected jury selection to last about two days and hoped to start the trial Wednesday morning.

"El Torito" was a rising boxing star in the early 1980s and was 22-0 by the time he was 19.

But his legal troubles had already started. At 15, he assaulted a girl in a restroom and received 10 years' probation. A few years later, he moved to New Jersey after an arrest on charges he ransacked a neighbor's house while he was drunk.

In New Jersey, he tied up and raped a 30-year-old schoolteacher neighbor in 1983. He was convicted and sent to prison for 16 years.

Ayala was released in 1999. He returned to San Antonio and immediately resumed his career, racking up five straight wins before he lost to Yory Boy Campos by technical knockout last year.

Then the trouble started again.

Ayala was recovering from the loss to Campos when he drifted out of a strip club and into a woman's house last December. He had met the woman while she was taking self-defense classes.

Nancy Gomez told police she was sleeping on the couch when she awoke to find a person standing across the room. She said she woke up another woman in the house, Sandra Gutierrez, who grabbed a .45-caliber handgun.

According to police reports, Gomez said Gutierrez handed the gun to her and she shot Ayala once in the shoulder when he came forward.

Ayala, who recovered from the wound in time to win a 10-round decision over Santos Cardona in July, has pleaded innocent.

"Hopefully, when the court date comes, the truth about all of the allegations will come out and I can get on with my life and live up to my destiny," Ayala said after the fight.

Ayala's lawyers hope to debunk prosecutors' attempts to prove any intent to commit sexual assault, although Parks wouldn't say why his client was in the house.

Defense lawyers also plan to attack the women's version of the story.

An investigation report by the Bexar County medical examiner's office suggests that Gomez did not shoot Ayala. According to the report, Gomez had no detectable gunpowder residue on her hands and Gutierrez did.

"It's not just testimony, but rather, scientific evidence that is throwing off the credibility of (the women's) story," Parks said. "It's another issue that will be looked at critically at the trial."

The Bexar County prosecutor downplayed the report's findings.

"We are aware of it and are unconcerned," First Assistant District Attorney Michael Bernard said.

Parks said he has not talked to Ayala about the boxer's plans to get back in the ring if he is acquitted.

"Neither he nor us can really do anything right now except focus on this aspect of his life," Parks said. "We want to get all the facts laid out before the jury, let everyone know what happened that night, then we'll make decisions about his future."

When Ayala fought in downtown San Antonio in July, a crowd of 2,600 seemed to care little about his troubles even though he fought with a court-ordered electronic monitor on his ankle.

Ayala got a rousing standing ovation when the decision was announced. His trainers lifted him onto their shoulders.

"When I got in the ring, I started to feel the beast come out in me," Ayala said after the fight.

"The reception I got speaks volumes about the loyalty I have in this town. I just regret all of my mistakes I've made in my life."