Saturday 5 October 2019 23:32, UK
Claressa Shields' long-awaited fight in her hometown of Flint, Michigan, has been called off after her opponent's trainer was injured in an altercation before the weigh-in.
Shields was supposed to fight Ivana Habazin of Croatia on Saturday night, but that bout was called off by the WBC after Habazin's trainer, James Ali Bashir, was hospitalised after Friday's incident.
"The WBC strongly condemns any act of violence in any event related to our sport, and specially the horrible attack which took place in an official activity surrounding this event," the body said.
"The WBC is certain that the corresponding authorities will apply the full extent to the law to this regrettable incident," it added."
Bashir was seen arguing with an unidentified person after the two fighters had been on the scales at the pre-fight event in Flint.
It was supposed to be Shields' first pro fight in her hometown. The 24-year-old condemned the incident in a Facebook post on Saturday.
"I did not see what happened and am relying, like so many of you, on what I have heard," she wrote.
"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! I stand with Coach Ali and Ivana Habazin and I also understand their stand on our fight."
Two-time Olympic champion Shields has won titles at the super middleweight level, and she unified the middleweight belts with a victory over previously unbeaten Christina Hammer in April.
She took this fight at 154 pounds, trying to become a three-division champion.
The Shields-Habazin fight was initially scheduled for August 17, but it had to be postponed because of an injury to Shields.
