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France's former WBA light heavyweight champion Mehdi Sahnoune has been handed a three-year prison sentence, of which two years are suspended, for his part in a gang attack on a fisherman outside a nightclub.
Sahnoune, 31, and a second accused, Bruno Bertagna, were both ordered to spend one year behind bars and fined €2500 ($4823) for the attack on the 27-year-old in March 2002.
The court heard that six men cornered Abdelaziz El Hermi outside a nightclub near Aix-en-Provence simply because they did not like "the overly exuberant manner" in which he danced. El Hermi suffered six fractures to his skull. Only two of his attackers were identified.
Sahnoune denied the charges and his lawyer said he would be appealing.
The boxer won the WBA title on March 8, 2003 but lost it to Italy's Silvio Branco in Marseille on October 10 that year.
