The player who attacked Maurice Hawkins last month during a private game in Florida told PokerNews the incident stemmed from a debate over the poker pro's nationality, and admitted to retrieving a weapon in self-defense after the fight.
Eugene Castaneda, a veteran poker player, landed a slew of punches on the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) ring record-holder on Nov. 26. Hawkins gave his side of the story in a brief interview with a poker dealer, and it differed from that of Castaneda. He claims the attack was unprovoked.
"Basically, a guy got mad because I said that I was African-American, that was my nationality, and he came over to sneak one through," Hawkins said in the interview with Pedro Green on YouTube.