Former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield was in the news recently about his financial issues [Read: Evander Holyfield B.R.O.K.E. & Back in Child Support Court] but things have suddenly gone from bad to worse.? Holyfield, pictured above during last week’s Superbowl XLIV festivities, is now being accused of battering his wife.

According to documents filed in Fayette County Georgia, Holyfield’s current wife, Candi, has obtained a protective order against him alleging family violence:

The case was filed last week in Fayette County, Georgia, Superior court, according to the Web site for the county clerk’s office.

Candi Holyfield, who happens to be Holyfield?s third wife, called authorities after the couple got into a fight at their Fayetteville home last week.

In the documents, Candi alleges that Evander argued and fought with her after she complained that it was too cold in their massive Georgia mansion on Feb 1 at 4:45 am.

Candi claimed that the heat was cut off in their mansion and that after taking their children to the bathroom in the middle of the night, she tried to talk to Holyfield about the house being too cold.

?He told me I was only thinking about myself, the children?s hearts beat faster,? she wrote in the restraining order.

The deeply religious boxer accused her of being disrespectful and said that she needed to ?start putting God first? in her life.

Holyfield then asked if she had been tithing to their church and demanded she show him the check stubs of her payments. After she refused, Candi alleges that Holyfield hit her in the face on the back of the head twice and on her back also.

CLICK HERE to view full order (.pdf file)

Apparently it’s not the first time Holyfield has laid hands on his wife. Candi claims that Holyfield has hurt her before and that he has been violent in the presence of their children. She wrote in the restraining order request:

Tha abuse started about 6 months into our marriage when I was pregnant with our first child. At first it was mainly emotional. There was incidents where he had pushed or grab me but it has escalated since 2008.

In 2008 he choked me in front of our daughter and house keeper. In 2009 he has hit me in front of the children. He has grabbed me in front of the children. A couple of weeks ago he threw a bottle of water at me.

A source revealed to RadarOnline that after the fight, Holyfield left for the Super Bowl in Miami and now Candi has filed for a restraining order against him and she wants a divorce.

?She is fed-up with his womanizing and money troubles — she is working as a nurse and is now in the process of finding a new place to live.

Candi claims that their fight left her with a black eye and that she is scared to be around him now.

The Holyfields were married July 1, 2003, in a Fayette County courtroom. It was Candi Holyfield’s 24th birthday. Candi, now 30, is the boxer’s third wife, and the couple has two children, ages 6 and 4.

(Source 1 and 2)