Artis Mack, brother of world women’s boxing champion Claressa Shields, has pleaded guilty to the assault of respected trainer James Ali Bashir.
Mack was convicted as part of a plea deal, which could see the 28 year-old jailed for one year later this year.
A plea deal was reached over the incident, in which Mack blindsided Bashir at a weigh-in ceremony last year.
The Flint native sucker-punched Bashir, 68, causing considerable damage requiring hospital treatment.
Bashir was rushed to doctors from Dort Federal Event Center, where Shields and her opponent Ivana Habazin we ready to hit the scales for their unification bout.
The weigh-in and whole even were eventually postponed. Months later, Shields defeated Habazin for the WBC and WBO super welterweight titles.
Shields won championships in three weight divisions due to her triumph.
At the hearing for Mack, Frank Manley represented the culprit and made a short statement to media afterward.
Frank Manley, Mack’s attorney, called the incident a no-win situation for anyone.
“It was bad for the city, bad for his sister and certainly bad for everybody involved,” Manley told mlive.com. “Hopefully this will put an end to it.
VICTORY
“We consider it a victory. Mr. Mack was confronted with fighting words and very emotional and provocative language. He was concerned about the safety of his sister.
“I think there were words in there that were racially tinged, and in his mind, those were fighting words. (They) So forth allowed him to go forward and protect his sister.
“We felt that it was in his best interest to resolve this matter at this time,” he added regarding the settling of the plea deal.
At the time of the incident, Shields was at a loss to explain what happened and offered her apologies to Habazin and Bashir.
Appearing at Genesee District Court Monday, Feb. 10th, Mack will be sentenced on March 10th. He also faces a $1,000 fine.
