I love happy endings.

**4nik8** · 08-21-2009, 07:35 PM

24-year-old burglar Gregory McCalium beaten by 'victim' - elderly retired boxer Frank Corti

DAILY NEWS STAFF

Updated Tuesday, June 30th 2009, 2:04 AM

Gregory McCalium got more than he bargained for when he broke into retired boxer Frank Corti's home last August.

He should have picked on someone his own age.

Gregory McCalium, 24, was left with severe facial wounds after the knife-wielding thug attempted to rob his elderly neighbor in tBotley near Oxford, England, Britain's SkyNews reported. The would-be burglar broke into the home of Frank Corti last Aug. 19 - without realizing the 72-year-old was a retired boxer.

A mug shot released by the Thames Valley Police reveals the results after Corti disarmed his attacker, let loose with two punches to the face and restrained McCalium until the police arrived on the scene.

On Tuesday, McCalium was sentenced to a 4 1/2-year sentence for the crime.

"'I was scared when he first threw the knife, but most people would have acted in the same way," Corti told London's Daily Mail. "If you can't defend what's yours, where are we at?"

Corti, a veteran of the British armed forces, was at home with his wife during the mid-morning attack, according to testimony in the case. McCalium, a bartender, may have held a grudge over a noise complaint lodged by the Cortis earlier that morning, the Daily Mail reported.

"The jury might well have concluded you got what you deserved," prosecutor Angela Morris said to McCalium during sentencing, according to the Daily Mail