FLINT, Mich. -- A prosecutor has filed an assault charge against the brother of boxer Claressa Shields in connection with an attack on the trainer for Ivana Habazin before the weigh-in for their fight.
Genesee County prosecutor David Leyton issued a statement Wednesday saying 28-year-old Artis J. Mack of Flint has been charged with one count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder in the Oct. 4 attack on 68-year-old James Ali Bashir.
Bashir was hospitalized after getting punched, falling and striking his head on the floor before the weigh-in. The Oct. 5 fight was cancelled.
Mack's attorney, Frank Manley, issued a statement saying "a video shows inflammatory rhetoric leading up to the incident that may provide context to the alleged assault."
Shields said in a Facebook post after the altercation that "despite the videos that are out, the actions that took place against Coach Ali was not right. I do not stand for that and do not in any way justify what happened no matter what he said!"