The facts :
Sunny Garcia and Jeremy Flores were allegedly involved in an attack on the surfer in front of hundreds of spectators about 2.45pm.
Witnesses said they saw Garcia, a former world champion surfer, place the local man, known as Clarkey, into head lock, hold him under water and punch him a number of times.
Flores, currently ranked world number nine, was also allegedly involved in the incident.
'' I didn't swing first. I didn't look for trouble and I wasn't going to turn around and run away,'' said Flores.
It is believed the alleged assault was sparked when the man allegedly cut in front of Sunny Garcia Junior during a leisure surf.
Garcia said he gone to the aid of his son.
The Association of Surfing Professionals today took disciplinary action against the pair and banned Garcia from competing in his next competition in Newcastle next month and disqualified Flores from the Breaka Burleigh Surf Pro.
Flores was unable to compete in his quarter final today.
A witness to the alleged attack said: ''They were punching him good - he was bent over and spitting blood,'' the man who did not want to be named said.
''It was just totally brutal.''
An amateur camera man who was filming the commotion alleged he was chased and knocked to the concrete by Garcia.
He said he was left with bruises and cuts and a suspected broken hand from the attack.
Police were called to investigation but no charges have been laid as the victim had not lodged an official complaint.
Jeremy Flores words on his blog :
Hey for now, all i can say is that everything that has been said on the news and all the stories people hear are told in a different way which makes it look very bad.
I just stood up for 16 years old Stone Garcia while a local surfer was getting aggressive with him.
Next thing,everybody knows,he got aggressive with me, i defended myself and we went at each other fighting face to face all the way to the beach.Somebody told Stone’s dad,Sunny Garcia,that his son was in trouble so he ran down.
Any parents would of done the same thing if their son were in trouble. Anyway,the ASP decided to take me out of the event because a new rule says that no violence should be tolerated in a professional event,i agree with that rule 100% but it wasn’t the case for me,i just defended myself while i was training in the contest area before my heat.
People have to understand that family and friends are everything for me and i will never walk away from it (especially when it’s a under 18 boy ).
I hate violence and i never get into any troubles like that. I love Australia and i have most of my best friends here. All the Burleigh boys have always been so nice to me so i won’t let this story change that. I’m so sad this story happened but i don’t regret anything,these things happen in life unfortunately and i will never let anyone walk thru me !
ASP RULE
The ASP Rules and Disciplinary Committee has convened this morning to begin assessment of an incident involving ASP World Title contender Jeremy Flores and ASP World Tour surfer Sunny Garcia last Saturday, February 19, 2011 on the Gold Coast of Australia. In accordance with the ASP Rules and Discipline Policy, the ASP Rules and Disciplinary committee will cooperate fully and await the findings of an active police investigation into the matter before reconvening and determining the next course of action.
It is noted that ASP International implements a zero tolerance policy in relation to violence.
In accordance with the ASP Rulebook, immediately following Saturday’s incident, then-active surfer Jeremy Flores was suspended from event competition at Burleigh Heads and then-eliminated surfer Sunny Garcia was suspended from the next event on the ASP calendar that he was scheduled to attend, the ASP 4-Star Burton Toyota Pro in Newcastle.
The ASP Rules and Disciplinary Committee will reconvene following the closure of the active police investigation to determine whether further disciplinary action is required for both athletes.
