Billy Joe Saunders suspended over video appearing to encourage domestic abuse

Billy Joe Saunders has been suspended by the British Board of Control after filming a video demonstrating to men how they could hit their partners during the coronavirus lockdown.

Saunders has since apologised and vowed to donate £25,000 to a domestic abuse charity while revealing he has had received death threats.

But he has been suspended while an investigation is carried out.

Saunders had earlier claimed he was joking in the video and likened it to a comedian's stand-up routine.

"I am getting a lot of hate mail wishing me dead, wishing my family and my kids dead,” he told talkSPORT.

"I haven't got another half but I have got a daughter and if anyone did that to my daughter I would hurt them bad, to be honest.

"I would never use my profession outside the ring but if anyone touched a finger on my daughter I would literally go all hell loose on them. Whatever I have got in my body.

"In other circumstances, and I don't condone what I said, but you get comedians taking the mickey out of people's disabilities etc, it was very silly but you don't see any other people targeted. Is it because of my background, people jump more on it because I've done some stuff in the past?

"I am who I am, I am not going to say I will never make another mistake in my life. I don't intentionally mean to make these mistakes, I didn't have a very good education.

"I am not intentionally causing the public any harm at all. I only put it out because I thought it was a laugh, clearly it wasn't."

Saunders is no stranger to controversy having been fined £100,000 by the British Boxing Board of Control for offering a drug addict "£150 of crack" in exchange for performing a sex act.

And his promoter Eddie Hearn admitted the most recent footage was "unacceptable".

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