Have you heard about Claressa Shields? Me neither. I wish I had been following her though. I ran across her on a video feed and the girl “bout it, bout it!” She is currently a unified world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC and IBF female super middleweight titles since 2017, and the WBA and IBF female middleweight titles since June 2018. Shields has held the Women Boxing Archive Network super middleweight title since January 2018. As an amateur she won a gold medal in the women’s middleweight division at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, making her the first American boxer—female or male—to win consecutive Olympic medals. Shields was the youngest boxer at the February 2012 U.S. Olympic trials, winning the event in the 165 lb (75 kg) middleweight division. In May, she qualified for the 2012 Olympics, the first year in which women’s boxing was an Olympic event, and went on to become the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing. I haven’t followed the boxing game since Iron Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfied’s ear off, so I didn’t know. We all have heard about the so called beast Ronda Rousey, but nutttin bout the black girl from Flint, Michigan. There is a little shade between her and another superstar, Serena Williams. According to Claressa, Serena ignored her at the Olympics causing Shields to block the tennis legend on Instagram. Hope these champions mend those fences, We need you united in this fight.
Some Highlights
In November 2016, Shields officially went pro. She won her first match, against Franchon Crews, by unanimous decision.
On March 10, 2017 she faced Szilvia Szabados for the North American Boxing Federation middleweight title, and won. This was the main event on ShoBox, with a regional title fight between Antonio Nieves and Nikolai Potapov serving as the co-main event. It was the first time a women’s boxing bout was the main event on a United States premium network card.
On June 16, 2017, Shields headlined the “Detroit Brawl,” facing Sydney LeBlanc in her first scheduled eight-round bout. LeBlanc signed on with three days notice, after Mery Rancier dropped out due to visa issues. Shields won the bout by decision after all eight rounds.
On August 4, 2017, Shields defeated defending champ Nikki Adler in Detroit for the WBC super-middleweight belt and the vacant IBF super-middleweight belt. The fight was on Showtime.
On January 12, 2018, Shields retained her WBC and IBF female super middleweight titles, and won the WBAN Super Middleweight title by defeating 17-0 Tori Nelson. It was Shields’ first time going all 10 rounds in her professional career.
On June 22, 2018, Shields defeated Hanna Gabriels by unanimous decision, winning the vacant World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation middleweight belts.
What it is….
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