(AUG 18) RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
(AUGUST 17, 2016) - Reigning Olympic and World Champion Claressa
Shields (Flint, Mich.) had quite the wait before her 2016
Olympic Games opener in Rio de Janeiro. Twenty-two sessions of
Olympic boxing came and went before the middleweight champion
got the chance to step in to the ring. She finally got her
opportunity on Wednesday afternoon at Riocentro Pavilion 6. For
the first time in Rio de Janeiro, an American boxer entered the
ring with a full arena cheering them on. Shields gave the fans
who came to see her a treat in her quarterfinal contest with
Russia's Iaroslava Iaukushina.
Shields began to unleash her signature right hand and left hooks
over the second minute of the first round and swept the judges
scorecards in her opening round of the 2016 Olympics. She
continued to heat up in the second round and controlled the pace
of the bout with defense and heavy shots to the delight of the
crowd. For the first time in the Olympics, a U-S-A chant stuck
without being booed down, a sign of respect for the Olympic
champion. She came out aggressive in the third round of her
quarterfinal bout, exerting her dominance on her Russian
opponent. Shields entered the fourth round with a convincing
lead in the bout but she kept her foot on the gas, firing fast,
explosive shots from every angle of the ring. She closed the
show with a thunderous left hook that led to a standing eight
count in the final seconds of the bout. Shields opened the
Olympic Games with a wide, unanimous decision to move on to the
semifinals.
"I wanted to go out there and outbox her from the outside, use
my jab and use my right hand but I just couldn't get her timing.
She didn't want to get close enough. After she hit me a couple
times, I was like I'm going to have to take it to the inside
with her because it was hard for me to get her timing. I hit her
with a lot of good jabs though, a lot of good right hands. It
wasn't as sharp as I wanted it to be. I just did a good job
transitioning. As far as overall performance, about a C,"
Shields said. "I definitely got the rust off. The game plan was
to go out there and fight her like I did when I fought her in
2014 but this time my body just wouldn't do it. She just kept
swinging all wild. Whenever I got close to her, I couldn't get
her timing so I just fought her on the inside and I did a great
job at that. I beat her with every combination on the inside."
Shields didn't compete until the 11th day of competition but she
made the wait worthwhile. "I've been waiting but the wait is
over. I'm glad to get my first fight out of the way. I'll be
resting up the rest of today and then tomorrow and then I'm back
at it again on the 19th. I'm excited. I'm glad I was able to get
the first fight out the way. I definitely got some ring rust
off. I'm taking it one fight, one round at a time. I'm
definitely looking forward to my next opponent," she said.
The returning Olympic champion made it clear that she is only in
Rio for one thing. "I'm definitely prepared to be here. I've had
more time than anyone else on my team to prepare. I've been in
training camp almost three months. I'm here to get an Olympic
gold medal. I'm not here to settle for bronze and silver, it's
not my thing. I want to be a two-time Olympic gold medalist and
I think I'm getting pretty close. I've got two more fights,"
Shields said.
Shields will be back in the ring at Riocentro on Friday at 3:30
p.m. Brazil time (2:30 p.m. ET) for her semifinal bout with
Kazakhstan's Dariga Shakimova. A victory in Friday's match will
advance Shields on to the gold medal bout.
Bantamweight Shakur Stevenson (Newark, N.J.) will compete in his
semifinal bout tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. local time (1:30 p.m. ET)
against Russia's Vladimir Nikitin. A Stevenson victory tomorrow
would clinch his spot in the finals.
For full tournament brackets and schedule information, click
here.
U.S. Result
165 lbs/75: Claressa Shields, Flint, Mich./USA dec. Iaroslava
Iaukushina, RUS, 3-0
