The Independent’s Steve Bunce steps into boxing brawl after Anthony Joshua fight

The Independent’s columnist held back Tony Bellew during a ringside scuffle at the O2 Arena

Steve Bunce was forced to intervene to hold back Tony Bellew and help prevent a ringside scuffle after Anthony Joshua’s fight against Jermaine Franklin.

Joshua beat Franklin on points at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday night despite a showing short of his best.

Before the result was confirmed, former WBC cruiserweight champion Bellew clashed with members of Franklin’s team.

The fracas forced respected BBC Radio 5 Live pundit and commentator Bunce, a columnist for The Independent, to leap to his feet, throwing down his headphones to step in.

Hauling Bellew away from the area of conflict, Bunce calmed down the retired British boxer before re-taking his position on the commentary desk.

“I was made to apologise. I didn’t want the trouble with them,” Bellew told iFL TV of the incident. “I just said: ‘What are you doing?’

“And [one of Franklin’s team] said, ‘What are you going to do?’ So he stepped out, and I said, ‘Let’s go.’ I stepped side on and thought he was going to step to me and my right hand was going to meet him. But he didn’t get close enough.

“What do you want me to do? I tried to tell him, you can’t approach a fighter.”

Bellew concluded his career in the ring in November 2018, losing to Oleksandr Usyk in his final fight.

Joshua’s win represented a much-needed result for the heavyweight after being beaten by Usyk in his last two bouts, even if the heavyweight did not deliver the commanding performance some felt he needed.

The 33-year-old admitted to being disappointed with his showing, but insisted he remains keen to take on Tyson Fury in a long-discussed battle of British heavyweights.

“No knockout, so no good. It is a brutal sport, but knockouts are everything. I’m not too happy,” Joshua told 5 Live Boxing. “I could have thrown more shots, and I should have, no excuses. But I will. That is part of coming back; you have to be your own biggest critic.

“I try and provide for the fans. I know who they want. They said Tyson Fury; the ball is in his court. I would be honoured to fight for the WBC heavyweight championship of the world. If he’s listening, he knows my promoter, we’ve had dialogue before, so let’s continue this. We ain’t getting any younger.”

You can read Steve Bunce’s column on Joshua’s win over Franklin right here.

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