Julius Francis, a former heavyweight boxer who now works as a safety bouncer, has ejected a man with his fatal left.
The former British heavyweight champion, who once fought Mike Tyson, hit the headlines again after footage went viral of him thrashing a customer with a punch while working as a security guard.
Francis reached the pinnacle of his boxing career when he became the British and Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion. The 57-year-old ex-heavyweight boxer also shared the ring with Vitali Klitschko and Tyson during his career.
When no one tells you the security guard you’re starting with is former heavyweight Julius Francis pic.twitter.com/jbRH8qWpRd
— Football Fights (@footbalIfights) 14 June 2022
Following the incident, the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation, but has since said it has been dropped.
In a statement, the Met said: “We are aware of footage circulating on social media showing an incident involving security staff and a member of the public outside Boxpark at Wembley.
“The incident happened soon after 17.00 hrs on Saturday, June 11. After calling the officials, they reached the venue.
“A group was ejected and a male customer got into a confrontation with security staff.
“The authorities have spoken to all parties involved and have reviewed the relevant CCTVs. No further action will be taken in respect of incident of security guard and male customer.
Boxpark CEO Roger Wade has said he “stands” by his employee. (capture the movie)
Meanwhile, Boxpark CEO Roger Wade has said he is ‘standing’ by his employee.
in a post linkedinHe wrote: “Learned about a viral story about one of our security team.
“Julius Francis, the former UK Heavyweight Boxing Champion, is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and in his spare time helps coach young underprivileged kids to box.”
Wade continued: “My understanding is that Julius and our security team spent 15 minutes trying to prevent this man and his friends from abusing, spitting and hitting our customers and employees.
Tyson’s European Debut
On this day 20 years ago, ‘Iron Mike’ destroyed Julius Francis in two rounds at the Main Arena in Manchester. #boxing #tysonfrancis #mike tyson pic.twitter.com/fwznPiTitw
— Eat Sleep Boxing Repeat (@ESBRBoxing) January 29, 2020
“They carefully pulled him out of the premises under constant provocation and violence. In the end the man approached Julius in a confrontational manner and he defended himself.
“Acts of violence or misbehavior against any employee should never be tolerated. How would you react if someone approached you violently? If you were in my shoes what would you do next? #istandwithjulius”.
Mike Tyson Drops the Hook He Left on Julius Francis #manchester in 2000. Tyson won by TKO in the second round. Francis sold advertisements for the soles of his shoes to The Mirror newspaper. He was floored five times, looks like he got his money’s worth. #heavyweight #history #boxing pic.twitter.com/CvxzMNjzAX
— Heavyweight Chronicles (@HVYWeightHeroes) April 21, 2021
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However, Francis has revealed that he would like to return to work as a security soon, despite the word-gathering momentum of his boxing comeback. Discussing the viral incident, Francis elaborated to TMZ, “I was arrested and well and I was taken to the police station for about four and a half hours.” “The guy came up to me and he was already violent, he hit some doormen, pushed them, punched them, went on some patrons.
“As soon as this happened, he turned around and made a B-line for me. He was calling me by name… It didn’t hurt me, but I have a right to defend myself. They had statements from my manager, the people at the door and they looked at our CCTV. I wasn’t so worried about it because it was actually me defending myself.
“I had a right to defend myself and that is what I did when he raised his hand. The security authority industry called SIA actually suspended my license to work. I can’t work at the moment, so I’m trying to fix it so I can get back to work as soon as possible.”