Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Claressa Shields’ hometown title fight is no more after an incident at the weigh-ins.
Olympic gold medalist and current women’s boxing world champion Claressa Shields (9-0, 2 KOs) was supposed to contest for the WBO junior middleweight title on Saturday night in her hometown of Flint, Michigan, but that is no longer the case.
Shields’ Showtime main event vs. Croatia’s Ivana Habazin (20-3, 7 KOs) is now off after an incident at the weigh-ins that saw Habazin’s trainer Bashir Ali knocked out from an alleged sucker punch, which occurred after Ali was seen getting into an argument with members of Shields’ team. There was plenty of local media in attendance to capture seemingly everything but the actual punch.
A hectic scene at the Shields/Habazin weigh in. Someone just knocked out Ivana Habazin’s trainer & ran out of the building. An ambulance is on the way. He had previously been arguing with Claressa’s sister. pic.twitter.com/gyxyATISVk
— Jason Lewis (@JasonLewis_TV) October 4, 2019
This is video of @IvanaHabazin trainer Bashi Ali being taken to the hospital after being allegedly “sucker punched” before the @Claressashields weigh in. Read More: https://t.co/tnJ1spHJt2 #claressashieldsfight #claressashields #BOXINGNEWS pic.twitter.com/Go54H537PN
— NBC25 / FOX66 News (@nbc25fox66) October 4, 2019
Here is what I captured at #ShieldsHabazin weigh-in: Bashir Ali, Habazin’s trainer, was in an argument w/ someone affiliated with Claressa Shields (as they were testing the scale for weigh-ins). 10ish minutes later, he was sucker punched from behind. He was taken to a hospital. pic.twitter.com/e1CM8pHjAE
— Jonathan Deutsch (@JonathanD_TV) October 4, 2019
Bashir was reportedly knocked out for 20 minutes, according to a witness who spoke to ESPN. He was also apparently “bleeding from his head after hitting the concrete floor.”
Shields explained her side of the story in a recorded video, denying it was anyone on her team who threw that punch, but also accusing Bashir made insulting remarks towards her camp.
“Her name is Ivana ‘No Excuses,’ so hopefully we don’t have none,” Shields said (via Bad Left Hook). “I’m quite sure she has another coach who she can fly in. Ain’t nothing happen to her. Something happened to her coach, sadly.”
“Her coach was being real disrespectful, but that still don’t make it alright, whatever happened,” Shields said. “I didn’t tell nobody who was with me to do anything. It wasn’t nobody from my team.”
The event will proceed with the rest of the undercard action, including Jaron Ennis vs. Demian Daniel Fernandez, but the fans came to see Claressa Shields, and the locals in Flint will be deeply disappointed.
Boxing Junkie reports that a suspect has been apprehended, but no further details have been revealed.