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Global reaction: ‘They look like two drunken louts’

It was a Bondi billionaire bash that made news around the world, but this was no glitzy Packer party – just an “unseemly fist-fight in the street”.

The incendiary Sunday footpath punch-up between billionaire gambling tycoon James Packer, who controls the Crown casino business, and his long-time friend and Nine Entertainment television boss David Gyngell, has grabbed some headlines in the US, UK and Asia.

Reports of the clash between two of the most powerful names in Australian business have appeared on the Independent, Telegraph and Daily Mail websites in the UK.

“Billionaire fight club: heavyweight Australian businessmen James Packer and David Gyngell square up” was the headline in the Independent.

“They look for all the world like two drunken louts brawling in the gutter after being ejected from a seedy pub,” the Independent’s story continued.

The UK Telegraph opted for “Billionaires brawl: James Packer and David Gyngell trade blows on Bondi Beach” in a story which included mention of supermodel Miranda Kerr.

Ms Kerr has been rumoured to have become romantically involved with Mr Packer following his recent divorce and is also likely to be better known on the global stage than the businessman.

The UK Daily Mail, which has an Australian operation, ran a story on “Miranda Kerr’s billionaire boyfriend” and the “unseemly fist-fight in the street”.

In the US, Mr Packer’s involvement in the movie-making business sparked coverage in two of Hollywood’s most influential publications.

Mr Packer has become a major player in Tinseltown through his partnership with director-turned-producer Brett Ratner in production company RatPac Entertainment.

The Hollywood Reporter described how a quiet Sunday afternoon at Bondi Beach turned into a “violent street brawl” with two 40-something men.

“It’s a scene that might play out in a Brett Ratner movie,” it said.

The Hollywood trade magazine Variety described the altercation as “a vicious public fist-fight”.

The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post also reported on the brawl, creating publicity in China which may be unwelcome by Mr Packer who has a huge casino investment in the Chinese territory of Macau.

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