Former two-weight WBO titleholder Billy Joe Saunders has been sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, for his part in a mass brawl at a baby shower in November 2021.
Saunders was among nine men involved in what was described as a “very violent” altercation in Warwick, during which he was alleged to have attempted to use a beer bottle as a weapon and punched several men.
Warwick Crown Court heard that Saunders, 37, became involved after violence had already broken out but went on to play a significant role in the incident.
“You were a boxer of some skill and repute at the Olympics and as a professional,” the judge told Saunders.
“You were involved in this [incident] at a more serious level than three of those with you today [in the dock], as you used a bottle and were considerably involved in this offence, but I bear in mind you did not dive in at the outset, you got involved a little later.”
Saunders represented Great Britain at the 2008 Olympics before going on to win WBO titles at middleweight and super middleweight as a professional.
His defence argued that his life had unravelled following his most recent appearance in the ring, a high-profile defeat by Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in May 2021, but said the incident had prompted him to get his life back on track.
The court also took into account that Saunders, 30-1 (14 KOs), is preparing to make his boxing comeback in December and that an immediate custodial sentence could jeopardise those plans.
In 2020, he was fined £150,000 after posting a video in which he appeared to endorse domestic violence. Two years earlier, Saunders was fined £100,000 by the British Boxing Board of Control after footage emerged showing him offering drugs to a woman in exchange for a sex act.