Saturday night's 154-pound title fight between Claressa Shields and Ivana Habazin has been canceled after Habazin's trainer was hospitalized following an assault at Friday's weigh-in.
Prior to Shields and Habazin hitting the scales for their main event showdown, James Ali Bashir, Habazin's lead trainer, was reportedly knocked unconscious by an unknown assailant. Medics tended to Bashir, who was stretchered out of the Dort Federal Credit Union Event Center in Flint, Mich.
The fight was to have been a homecoming for Shields, a Flint native. The two-time Olympic gold medalist and undisputed women's middleweight champion was also in line to make history. Shields and Habazin were scheduled to fight for the vacant WBC and WBO junior middleweight championships. Had Shields (9-0, two KOs) won, she would have become the fastest fighter in boxing history to win world titles in three different weight classes, beating out Vasiliy Lomachenko, who accomplished the feat in his 12th professional bout.
Now, the 24-year-old champion will have to wait after a chaotic scene derailed those plans. Habazin has declined to fight after being traumatized by the assault, which left the Croatian without her lead trainer.
Authorities reportedly have a suspect in custody. Bashir remains hospitalized at nearby McLaren Flint Community Medical Center.
Shields-Habazin was to headline a Showtime tripleheader Saturday evening. Jaron Ennis vs. Demian Daniel Fernandez has been moved to the main event.