Former boxing world champion Billy Joe Saunders used beer bottles to attack rivals during a mass brawl at a baby shower, a court has heard.
The 37-year-old assaulted people with a bottle on three occasions after violence erupted at the celebration.
Saunders was among nine men caught up in the “very violent” confrontation, during which one man was stabbed in the hand with a flick knife, Warwick Crown Court was told.
The court also heard that another man was reportedly seen carrying a gun.
Everyone involved had been invited by Audie Knowles, 38, to the event at Poppy’s Club in Bulkington, Warwickshire, on November 27, 2021, which was held to celebrate his wife’s pregnancy.
One witness described Saunders as “drunk, drinking a lot” and said he had been “being derogatory towards Irish people”.
Earlier in the evening, two members of the group had fought, but the situation appeared to have settled down.
However, shortly after midnight on November 28, the violence suddenly reignited for reasons that remain unclear.
Former boxing world champion Billy Joe Saunders pictured outside Warwick Crown Court
CCTV footage shown to the court captured a confrontation inside the venue before one of the five defendants, John-Leon Porter, now 27, punched another suspect.
The fight then moved into the buffet area, where food and other items were thrown during the chaotic melee.
Knowles, who was also on trial, allegedly hit Porter on the back and head with a bottle around 13 times before striking another man with it approximately 15 times.
Prosecutor Patrick Sullivan said a witness saw former Olympian Saunders empty a beer bottle near the bar so he could use it as a weapon.
He was then seen grappling with a man while attempting to hit him with the bottle.
The court was also told that bottles smashed after Saunders threw them across the room.
Saunders later delivered six punches in four seconds to four men, including Porter, who was sitting beside him in the dock on Thursday, September 17.
He struck one of those men again a short time later.
Saunders was sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for 18 months. The judge said: “You were a boxer of some skill and repute at the Olympics and as a professional.
“You were involved in this brawl 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. However, I bear in mind that you did not dive in at the outset and became involved a little later.”
Pictured: Billy Joe Saunders celebrates beating Andy Lee during their WBO World Middleweight title fight at Manchester Arena in 2015
One of two unknown brawlers pulled a knife from his pocket and stabbed one of those involved, Mr Sullivan said.
Defending Saunders, Sebastian Gardiner told how his client’s life had spiralled just months before the melee, when he lost to Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez in May 2021, which took place in front of a record 73,126 people at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Saunders’ eye socket was broken during the super-middleweight unification fight, which had four world titles on the line.
It was his first career loss and the injury forced him into retirement, said Mr Gardiner.
He piled on the pounds and started boozing for the first time in his life, the court heard, before finding himself in the middle of the vicious pub brawl just six months later.
His Honour Judge Thomas Rochford said that as a pro boxer Saunders ‘should be able to manage his feelings in a way others can’t’.
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Mr Gardiner said: ‘It was an incident that took place at a time where he was extremely low, he had been drinking for the first time in his adult life. He’d trained to be a boxer from being a child.
‘He got to a very high level with lots of attention and expectation on him.
‘His world came tumbling down in May that year when he was defeated.
‘It was a fight which led to a fractured eye socket and which, in effect, ended his career.
‘He’s a finely tuned athlete, his whole world revolved around being a boxer.
‘He had put on a huge amount of weight between May and November as he was drinking a lot and had come off the rails.
‘He was devastated to see himself behave like that.
‘It acted as a catalyst for him to recognise that he had behaved inappropriately and that he was mismanaging his life.’
In September last year Saunders was sentenced to a community order and fined after pleading guilty to illegally using dogs to hunt and kill hares, but that offence was not taken into consideration during Thursday’s sentencing as it post-dated the brawl.
British boxer Billy Joe Saunders was caught on film launching a foul-mouthed tirade at cops – when he was caught with three others for illegal hare coursing
Mr Gardiner said Saunders had shed four stone and given up booze since the 2021 scrap and is now back in training with a view to having a professional bout in December.
The court heard how Saunders had been training amateur and professional fighters and a string of character references were sent to the judge.
They included a letter sent from a member of the Lib Dems and also ‘a party on the right,’ the judge said, as well as several boxing clubs.
He said he noted his intention to return to the ring, adding: ‘I know a custodial sentence would affect that.’
The court heard how Saunders was ‘a man of some means’ financially and was happy to pay whatever fine or costs were imposed upon him.
He was ordered to pay £1,000 in costs and a £1,000 fine, and he will carry out 200 hours of unpaid work in the next 12 months.
Burly Knowles was jailed for 15-months, with the judge telling him: ‘It was a disgraceful brawl in a bar in which you were heavily involved and used a bottle repeatedly.’
A witness said that another defendant, David Draper, 40, who was on bail at the time, had retrieved a gun during the fight and hid it under a white top or cloth.
The white item could be seen in the CCTV as rotund Draper returned from out of shot, but the firearm claim could not be substantiated.
He was given 12-months, suspended for 18-months, along with 140 hours unpaid work.
He was slapped with a fine of £500 and costs of £500.
Martin Fury, 37, had ‘slight’ involvement and was given a nine-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, along with 120 hours of unpaid work, and a £500 fine.
Porter, 27, got 33 weeks, suspended for 18 months as well as 120 hours of unpaid work and a £500 fine.
He threw just one punch before being ‘battered by people with bottles’, his barrister Lee Masters said.
All five defendants pleaded guilty to violent disorder earlier this year.
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