A Leonese boxer beats a man who was allegedly mistreating his partner at the cinema | Present

Madrid

The boxer Antonio Barrul has come to the forefront of news after a video went viral in which he punched a man several times who was allegedly mistreating his wife during the screening of a children’s film in a movie theater in León. The president of the Boxing Federation of Castilla y León, Arantxa Lorenzo, showed this Monday her support for the boxer, ensuring that he does not have to be sanctioned since he acted in defense of a woman.

In statements to EFE, Arantxa Lorenzo, mother of professional boxer Jon Pérez and who was the first president of an Autonomous Federation in Spain, has assured that, although she does not like this type of situation, she defends the boxer because he acted in defense of a woman. .

“First he tried to get him to stop his attacks and then he acted,” said Lorenzo, who has assured that it was the boxer himself who called him that same day to tell him what happened at the cinema, although it was not until today that a video captured by a moviegoer has gone viral on social media, with thousands of users asking what consequences this incident will have on the boxer’s career.

The president of the Federation of Castilla y León reported what happened to the Spanish Federation and, as she explained, the intention of the two federations would be not to sanction Barrul. “We consider that it would be unfair to sanction him because in the environment in which it occurs, in a cinema, with his family, full of children and being rebuked and insulted, it is something that can occur, although we are talking about a super-disciplined, family-oriented athlete who never has participated in any altercation and has been immersed in a situation in which he had to react,” he said.

In any case, if some type of complaint were made – at the moment there is none – and the case had a judicial background, they would “abide” by the possible sentence that would be handed down and if this would entail some type of impact on the disciplinary section of the entity. federation would act accordingly, he added. Antonio Barrul has apologized for what happened and has indicated that he hopes that these events do not affect his professional career as a boxer.

Who is Antonio Barrul?

Antonio Barrul is a well-known 25-year-old boxer from León who has made headlines in recent days after the video of a fight in a cinema in León went viral in which he punched a man several times who, allegedly and according to several witnesses, was insulting and abusing him. to his wife in the middle of the screening. In the video you can see how Barrul urges him to stop bothering her and the rest of the attendees but the man does not listen and even insults the boxer, which angers him, who hits him several blows in front of everyone in room.

Born in 1999, Barrul was a six-time Spanish amateur champion before making the leap to the professional category and has been part of the Spanish team, with which he has competed in world and European championships. He is one of the great promises of the ring in Spain, turning professional just a year ago. The Leonese has been the best debutant fighter of the year 2023, according to the specialized page Espabox, and aspires to compete in the Spanish super bantamweight championship, the lowest weight category.

Barrul is the father of three children, with whom he was watching the Garfield movie on May 1 in a Leonese cinema. When he saw that a man was, according to several witnesses, berating her companion, a woman, and insulting her, he asked him to stop her attitude, but the other began to insult him. The two ended up facing each other right under the cinema screen and Barrul punched the other man several times, causing him to fall to the ground and in this position he kneed him. After punching him several times, Barrul apologized to the viewers and can be heard in the video as he says: “I’m very sorry, it really hurts me.” The boxer has regretted his behavior in a statement to EFE, although the incident has not led to any type of complaint from the victim so far.

The boxer regrets the violence used

The boxer has acknowledged in statements to EFE that he regrets the violence used and that it is difficult for him to watch the video of what happened, but he emphasizes that a man cannot be allowed to mistreat a woman because it is unacceptable. According to his story, when a little more than half an hour had passed after the film was shown, he heard a man who began to insult the woman who was accompanying him and could even see how he “hooked her by the neck” and began to struggle with her.

“At the time of the struggle he hit a girl who was next to this couple and who had nothing to do with them,” Barrul recalled. He has insisted that he approached to mediate and ordered this person to leave the room and has stressed that, far from giving up his attitude, at all times he was “very aggressive” uttering all kinds of insults for what he asked the employees. of the cinema who notified security without receiving a response.

He has admitted that due to the insults he received his “blood boiled” and a fight began between the two with which he intended to put an end to the situation that was being experienced, reiterating that he regrets having had to resort to violence, but insisting that the situation He was “overcome” by seeing his children and his wife crying at what was happening.

Barrul claims to be worried about the possibility of a hypothetical sanction by the Spanish Boxing Federation and trusts that they will give him the opportunity to explain himself. “Boxing is my livelihood and I’ve been doing this since I was a kid.”

“You shouldn’t let an abuser go too far”

The boxer pointed out this Monday in a video broadcast on social networks that “an abuser should not be allowed to exceed his limits at any time”, justifying the incident. “Because an abuser should not be allowed to go too far at any time. He is one hundred percent against gender violence. And this cannot be allowed,” Barrul assured.

“I went with my wife and two children to see a movie and there was a couple with a child with a man who was very violent towards his wife. Half an hour into the movie, he got up and grabbed his wife by the neck, shook her , people got up and in the struggle they hit a girl,” the boxer began, admitting that there “he couldn’t contain himself anymore.”

“I got up and told him to leave when he went crazy, he started threatening and insulting me. My wife was crying and grabbed my arm telling me to sit down. He started insulting and threatening me seriously,” says Barrul, who admits who came down to tell him to leave but he didn’t stop with the threats. “I got an impulse, I thought I was exposing myself in front of everyone with his provocations and I couldn’t contain myself any longer going to him,” he says.

“An abuser should not be allowed to go too far at any time, I am one hundred percent against gender violence and this cannot be condoned,” he assured, emphasizing that, although he publicly apologized, he has no problem doing it again. do. “To all those children who have seen the video. That violence has no type of justification. But an abuser should not be given any type of footing,” she concluded.