Female Boxer Is Prime Suspect in Beating Death of Her Husband

Brazilian boxer Viviane Obenauf, 34, was arrested this week after her husband was found dead in their Switzerland apartment following a “sustained violent assault.” The couple married in January, and Obenauf is accused of beating her husband to death “with a blunt object.”

The husband, identified only as Thomas, 61, died of “massive injuries.” He owned a restaurant, Des Alpes, in the Swiss town of Interlaken, where the couple shared the apartment and Obenauf opened a gym. Police were seen investigating the gym as well as the couple’s apartment.

Obenauf, a featherweight, “fought in three world title bouts during her career [and] held a 14-6 record and two World Boxing Federation international titles before she retired last year,” the New York Post reported.

Swiss newspaper Blick said Obenauf had been arrested before, in a London nightclub after punching a man in the face for allegedly trying to grope her while she celebrated her 30th birthday.

The Daily Star said Obenauf “was born in Rio de Janeiro, and as a youngster, she played football and was an Olympic gymnast before turning to boxing at the age of 18.”

Other boxers have had arrests and suspensions due to domestic violence recently. In February, a video surfaced of lightweight boxing champion Gervonta Davis shoving and dragging his ex-girlfriend into a separate room at a charity basketball game. In March, British middleweight Billy Joe Saunders allegedly instructed men on how to hit their partner if “your old woman is giving you mouth” during the coronavirus lockdown in a video posted to social media.