British Teen Killed in Boxing Brawl and Other Sports Events That Ended in Blood

A British teenager has died after being stabbed in a huge brawl between rival boxing fans at an event in the Midlands on October 14. Sputnik looks at sporting events where the fans became more violent than the participants.

​Reagan Asbury, 19, received the fatal wound on October 14, when fans of boxer Myron Mills, from Derby, clashed with supporters of local fighter Luke Paddock outside Walsall Town Hall in the West Midlands. Facebook Live footage showed the fight breaking out inside the venue before one group of fans followed the other set outside.

RIP Reagan Asbury. Murdered after a riot started at a boxing event over the weekend. Such an innocent loss of life. ❤️ to family/friends. 😢 pic.twitter.com/MnNILmy5yN

— Boxing Kingdom (@BoxingKingdom14) 16 October 2017

R.I.P Reagan Asbury, had his whole life ahead of him🌹💔🙏🏼 can't imagine how his loved ones are feeling at this sad time

— jode 🦄 (@JodieKxo) 15 October 2017

​Sputnik takes a look at some other occasions where tempers have flared at sports events and ended with violence involving fans.

Football Hooligans Switch to Boxing, 1994

In the 1980s Birmingham City's football hooligan firm, The Zulus, were notorious and were frequently involved in violence against rival fans.

But by the early 1990s many of the Zulus had started supporting Robert McCracken, a Birmingham fighter who was making a name for himself as a light-middleweight.

In September 1994 a huge brawl broke out at the National Exhibition Centre, near Birmingham, during McCracken's fight against Manchester's Steve "The Viking" Foster.

Foster's supporters, many of them Manchester United fans, clashed with the Zulus and as the rival factions attacked each other with chairs and metal barriers promoter Frank Warren phoned the police to demand the deployment of a riot squad.

Six years later, McCracken fought for a world title and is now a respected boxing coach.

Polish Fighter Attacked by US Boxing Fans, 1996

In July 1996, Polish heavyweight Andrew Golota challenged Riddick Bowe, of the US, for the world heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Bowe was born in Brooklyn and hundreds of African-American New Yorkers in the crowd were supporting him.

Golota, who was unbeaten, was a heavy puncher and was more than holding his own against Bowe, but he had a tendency to punch below the belt and in the seventh round the referee disqualified him after Bowe was felled with another painful punch in the groin.

Enraged Bowe fans climbed into the ring and started attacking the Chicago-based Pole.

One of Bowe's cornermen, Jason Harris, repeatedly hit Golota on the head with a walkie-talkie, opening up a cut that required 11 stitches, and Golota's 74-year-old manager Lou Duva collapsed in the ring in the middle of the riot, suffering from chest pains.  

Duva survived, Harris was convicted of assault, Bowe won a rematch five months later, but was then sued by Golota for failing to control his own entourage at the first fight.

Boxing Fan Run Over by a Coach, 1999

In February 1999, supporters of London boxer Jason "Method Man" Matthews clashed with local fight fans at a sports centre in Oldham, near Manchester.

Dean Fisher, 31, a close friend of Matthews, was dragged off a coach and crushed under its wheels during the brawl, which broke out after Paul "Silky" Jones was disqualified for persistent holding in his middleweight bout with Matthews.

Several men were acquitted of manslaughter but convicted of violent disorder. Matthews would later fight for the WBO world middleweight title but Jones quit the ring in disgust after the brawl.  

The 'Malice at the Palace,' 2004

Basketball fans do not have a reputation for violence, but there are exceptions.

In November 2004, the Detroit Pistons were losing at home to rivals Indiana Pacers in a NBA game at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan when, with only 45 seconds left, a huge brawl broke out on the court.

The Pistons' Ben Wallace was fouled the Pacers' Ron Artest and Wallace reacted angrily, shoving him across the course.

What became known as the "Malice at the Palace" kicked off.

Pistons fan John Green threw a beer at Artest, who ran into the crowd and attacked another man he thought had thrown the offending drink.

Fans and players then became embroiled in a brawl the like of which had never been seen before.

Nine players were suspended — Artest lost US$5 million in salary and appearance money — and five Pistons fans were banned for life.

Fighting at US College Football Game, 2017

While hooliganism at European football — soccer — games has long been a problem, in the United States, it is rare to see fights between fans at what they call American football.

Partly that is because of the great distances involved, which means few "away fans" travel to games in other cities, preferring to watch on television.

In September however, shocking footage showed rival supporters exchanging punches at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

The stadium was hosting the opening game of the college football season between the University of Alabama and Florida State.

A group of Alabama fans were escorted out of a section of the stadium seating Florida fans after a brawl broke out.