Five people were injured Saturday night in a brawl at the Bell Centre following a boxing match pitting Toronto’s Brandon Cook against Montreal’s Steven Butler.
Montreal police (SPVM) were called by the Bell Centre’s security team at around 11 p.m. after a fight broke out at ice level, near the boxing ring.
The match ended three minutes into the seventh round with a TKO win for Cook.
Police said numerous fights broke out in the crowd after the final bell and people started throwing objects onto the ring.
“At the end of the fight people started throwing bottles and chairs and whatever they could grab,” SPVM spokesman Jean-Pierre Brabant said.
Cook was one of the five people injured after he was hit in the face by an ice bucket. Cook and his corner team quickly left the arena for security reasons.
Two security guards in their 20s were treated at the scene for minor injuries, while a 42-year-old man and a 49-year-old woman were taken to hospital for treatment.
Brabant said it took roughly 30 minutes to diffuse the situation.
Two men in their 20s were arrested and according to Brabant, could face charges of armed assault and assault causing bodily harm.
Camille Estephan president of Eye of the Tiger Management and promoter of the match expressed his disappointment. He said the incident was “embarrassing” and qualified the actions as “irresponsible and inexcusable.”
–With files from the Canadian Press
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