by David P. Greisman

Former junior featherweight and featherweight Antonio Escalante was arrested earlier this week after allegedly driving drunk, according to Texas television station KFOX El Paso.

He’s accused of driving while intoxicated with an open alcohol container, according to El Paso County’s online court records.

The El Paso Times said Escalante “was found asleep behind the wheel of [a] car at a gas station” with “the engine running and in gear.” Officers had to get a warrant to take a blood sample from Escalante, who “refused to take a field sobriety test and to provide a breath sample,” the newspaper reported.

No hearing dates were listed, though jail records note that Escalante, arrested on Monday night, was freed Tuesday on $1,500 bail.

Escalante acknowledged the arrest in a Facebook post on Tuesday

“I want to apologize to all my family, friends and sponsors for my a [sic] big mistake,” he wrote. “My conduct is not acceptable but I will do everything in my power to change and regain the trust of everyone. Thanks!!”

Escalante, who is 28 years old, turned pro in 2003 and is 29-6 with 20 knockouts. Among his notable wins are victories over Cornelius Lock, Mike Oliver, Miguel Roman and Gary Stark Jr.

His losses came to Jairo Sanchez early in his career, to Mauricio Pastrana in 2007, in back-to-back knockout losses to Daniel Ponce De Leon in 2010 and Alejandro Perez, and in back-to-back stoppage losses to Rocky Juarez in 2012 and Robert Marroquin in 2013.

Escalante returned this past January, scoring a first-round technical knockout of designated opponent Sammy Ventura.

Pick up a copy of David’s new book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com