BILLY JOE SAUNDERS had his licence to fight suspended by the British Boxing Board of Control today after a video on social media emerged in which he advised men how to hit their female partners.

The WBO super-middleweight champion used a punch bag to demonstrate how to react if “your old woman is giving you mouth” in a video his own promoter Eddie Hearn described as “idiotic” and “unacceptable.”

Saunders himself admitted he made “a silly mistake,” insisting his intention was not to condone spousal abuse before declaring that he would donate £25,000 to domestic violence charities.

But he will also have to answer to the BBBofC, which said in a statement: “The [board], having considered comments made by Billy Joe Saunders on social media, have suspended his boxer’s licence pending a hearing under the board’s misconduct regulation, at a time and venue to be confirmed as soon as possible.”