An Olympic boxer who bashed a truck driver in a road rage incident felt it "weak" to walk away from fights, a court has heard.
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Adam Tony Forsyth, 34, was sentenced to a suspended four-month jail term on Wednesday for an assault that took place eight years ago in Fyshwick.
Forsyth - who boxed for Australia in the Athens Olympics before turning professional - was parking his car on Wollongong Street when a trucked turned in from a nearby intersection.
His car was blocking the truck's path, prompting an exchange of words, including about Forsyth's driving ability, before the truck driver got out of his car.
Forsyth followed suit, and the pair walked towards each other.
The boxer landed eight blows on the truck driver, causing bruising, tenderness, markings, and a chipped tooth.
Members of the public went to the driver's aid following the assault.
Forsyth was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was found guilty after his self-defence argument failed at trial in the ACT Supreme Court.
He was sentenced to four months imprisonment wholly suspended by Justice Hilary Penfold on Wednesday.
The court heard proceedings were significantly delayed, entitling Forsyth to a discount, despite most of the delays being his fault.
He was last year sentenced to one year's imprisonment in Western Australia for misleading an Australian Crime Commission examiner. The boxer was found to have lied to the ACC during a coercive hearing about the international transfer of cash and sources of money.
Defence lawyer Kamy Saeedi said Forsyth had a clean record at the time of the road rage assault in Fyshwick.
Mr Saeedi said his client had since undergone anger management courses, counselling, and had learnt a valuable lesson from his full-time incarceration.
Forsyth, the court heard, would now handle the situation very differently.
He told the author of a pre-sentence report he had previously believed it "weak" to walk away from a confrontation, but had changed his attitude.
Forsyth placed fifth in the Athens Olympics, but believed he was robbed of a bronze medal. He turned professional and won all of his 10 fights.
He lives in Western Australia and now works in a grocery business seven days a week, the court heard.
Forsyth was also placed on a 12-month good behaviour order.
He has also since been convicted of a road rage assault in NSW.
