A Spanish boxer has issued an apology after being involved in an explosive confrontation inside a cinema. On the weekend Antonio Barrul, a six-time national champion at amateur level before turning pro last year, attended a screening of the film Garfield with his wife and son in Leon.
But their visit turned sour after Barrul confronted another man, having reportedly become unhappy at the way his fellow viewer was treating his own partner. Video footage posted on social media shows the 25-year-old leaving his seat and walking past several rows to argue with the male, before unleashing a flurry of punches and knocking him to the ground.
On Monday, the super bantamweight fighter spoke to Radioestadio Noche to express his remorse at behaving in that manner, but also sought to explain why the altercation became violent. “Everything was chaos and a disaster” he said, before describing how the pair had words from afar before going face-to-face.
“He started to threaten me and it got worse and worse until I decided to go down (to where he was sitting). I couldn’t control myself and what you see in the video happened.”
Barrul did show remorse over his reaction, and insisted he said sorry to fellow film-goers and cinema staff, and would act differently if faced with the same situation again. “I apologised in the cinema and publicly because those images do not make me proud,” he added.
“What is shown in that video is not who I am. I would try (if the same thing happened again) to get the security to come and take him away. If security had come on time, many things could have been avoided.”
Barrul’s first pro-bout came in March 2023, taking a unanimous points decision over Stefan Nicolae. He backed that up with three further wins before the end of the year, and in March 2024 took on Bulgarian fighter Yanko Naydenov.
He duly delivered his most dynamic display yet in Leon, knocking his opponent down three times inside the opening round. It took his pro record to 5-0, although none of his fights have come outside of his native Spain.
His actions at the cinema have since divided opinion, with some boxing fans praising him for confronting the individual. However, he’s also been criticised for becoming embroiled in the ugly scenes given a number of families were present.
