Three taken to hospital after mass brawl breaks out at boxing match

The scene of last night's mass brawl at a boxing match at Elland RoadThe scene of last night's mass brawl at a boxing match at Elland Road
The scene of last night's mass brawl at a boxing match at Elland Road
Three people were taken to hospital and a police investigation has been launched after a mass brawl involving 40 people broke out at a boxing match in Leeds last night.

West Yorkshire Police branded the incident, at the Pavilion suite at Leeds United's Elland Road ground, as "large scale disorder" and the club says it is "disgusted" by the violent scenes.

The venue had been hired by a boxing promoter from Essex for a white collar event but the main fight, between Mikey Bourne and Mark Holmes, didn't even go-ahead due to violent scenes where punches and chairs were seen to be thrown in a video posted on YouTube.

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Even though the video referred to the funfair that has been held on land at the ground, the organisers, Tuby and Son Funfairs, say it was nothing to do with them.

They said: "This incident at the boxing event had nothing whatsoever to do with any showman or staff at the Elland Road funfair."

Police were called just before 10.30pm after the disorder broke out. Once police arrived the crowds dispersed and three people received hospital treatment for "minor injuries", a spokesperson confirmed.

Staff at Leeds United have worked through the night to clear up the damage and debris in time for other functions at the venue and said it will no longer host any further white collar boxing shows.

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A statement released by Leeds United said: "We are disgusted by the violent scenes witnessed at the Pavillion last night during a white collar boxing event caused by a small group of individuals. We pride ourselves on successfully hosting major conferences and events within the venue and do not condone the actions of these individuals.

"Event staff from Elland Road had been in contact with the relevant authorities prior to the organised boxing event taking place and we provided more than the required level of trained security personnel on site for such an event. We will continue to work closely with West Yorkshire Police to help to identify those individuals involved in the incident."

Around 700 tickets had been sold for the fight organised by Golden Gloves Boxing Promotions which is based in Essex.

Organiser, Danny Morgan told the Yorkshire Evening Post: "People started throwing chairs and as soon as that happened the place went mad. I have been involved in boxing since I was seven years-old and have never seen anything like it.

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"We have been working on this for months to make sure everything was safe and had more security than is required. Elland Road staff were fantastic but you could not have predicted what happened. It was crazy and I want to apologise to the genuine people that came to support the fighters."

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