This past weekend an incident occurred that has spread rapidly over the past few days on social media. It all happened during a screening of the new Garfield movie in León, when a man began to scold a woman in the middle of the movie theater. The insults escalated in intensity until the victim’s partner responded, reducing the instigator with a barrage of blows.
This couple was Antonio Barrul, a 25-year-old boxer from León, who in 2023 was chosen as the best debutant of the year by the specialized portal Espabox. Known as El Volcán, he has more than a decade of experience, helped by his father: former Spanish champion and gym manager, Vicente Barrul. His first steps were during his adolescence, proclaiming himself Spanish amateur champion before debuting as a professional in the super bantamweight category.
Barrul is currently undefeated and maintains a 5-0 record. He himself places Sandor Martín and Jon Fernández as his main references in Spanish boxing, while at an international level he points to the Americans Teófimo López and Gervonta Davis. During an interview with specialized journalist Emilio Marquiegui, he assured that he “transformed” every time he entered the ring, and hoped to achieve a title in 2024.
However, his career could be affected after this incident as stated in the Penal Code. The fact of being a federated professional boxer could be considered an aggravating circumstance when judging the aggression, taking into account that an “abuse of superiority” would be occurring. Hours after the fight, Barrul spoke out in a video published on the Spanish content profile Ceciarmy.
According to his explanations, the insults to his partner occurred after the man in question acted violently against his own partner, in front of his son. “Half an hour into the film he got up and grabbed the woman by her neck and shook her, while in the struggle he hit a girl. I couldn’t contain myself any longer, I got up to tell her to leave and that what she was doing in front of children was not normal,” she explained.
As the threats continued, she couldn’t contain herself and went after him. “I am 100% against gender violence and this cannot be tolerated. As I said in the cinema, that I publicly apologized, I’ll do it again. To all the children who have seen the video I tell them that violence has no type of justification, but an abuser should not be given any type of footing,” he concluded in the images in question.