'I feared for my family's safety': Anthony Yarde reveals worries after mass brawl in the crowd at the Copper Box Arena

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Anthony Yarde has spoken of his fears for his family's safety after a mass brawl broke out at the Copper Box Arena in east London on Saturday night.

Yarde forced a stoppage with a devastating onslaught in the showpiece event but the violence was not confined to the ring when chairs were thrown and punches exchanged prior to the boxer's bout.

‘I didn’t really hear about the fight possibly being called off but obviously I was worried about my mum and my family as they were here,' said Yarde. 

A brawl broke out at the Copper Box Arena, delaying the fights as security were called 

There was a mass brawl but it is not certain what instigated the violence in the crowd

Anthony Yarde claimed victory with a devastating first round onslaught in the showpiece

‘I know my friends can take of themselves but when I heard a big fight had broken out I came out in my boxer shorts and sent a friend to go and check that my mum, sister and niece were alright.

‘I didn’t hear about it getting called off, no one came and said to me it might have been called off, which was good.

‘It was a bit strange in there. They had come and told me that a fight had broken out and I just said to myself "even if there are only four people here, the TV is still here and everything is still on the line, I need to stay focussed" and that is how I kept it.

‘It did go completely to plan, the only thing that didn’t was I said I was going to stop him with a straight right hand.

‘I dropped him with one but he got up and I was a bit upset from that and that’s why I was aggressive after that.’ 

Prior to Yarde's brutal performance, Asinia Byfield put Sam McNess, a fan favourite, to the sword and shortly after their clash, a mass brawl broke out in the crowd.

Hoards of security were forced to flood in and soothe the situation which momentarily delayed proceedings. 

Sam McNess (left) lost his fight against Asinia Byfield before the crowd trouble started 

It is unclear how or why the violent clashes started although Asinia provocatively gestured to the crowd after his victory which could have been the catalyst but the scrap took place in the seated area close to the ring. 

McNess had plenty of support from West Ham fans in the crowd and it is thought that Asinia's gesture was the 'Irons' pose, much to the chagrin of large swathes of the audience. 

The announcer on the tannoy system pleaded for calm and eventually order was restored. 

Fortunately there was plenty of security on hand to smooth the situation over 

The ugly scenes took place shortly after Sam McNess was stopped by Asinia Byfield

The remainder of the fight card ran without a hitch and the home fans for the most part went home happy after Yarde backed up the hype surrounding him. 

The muscle-bound light heavyweight remained unbeaten (12-0) and made short work of Hungarian Richard Baranyi to win the WBO European title.