(AUG 25) Women’s boxing
superstar Claressa Shields has added two more impressive
distinctions to her already unparalleled boxing career laurels.
25-year-old “T-Rex” Shields (10-0, 2 KOs), currently the unified
WBC and WBO World Female Super Welterweight and WBC, WBA, IBF
and WBO Middleweight Champion, has been named #1 in both The
Ring and ESPN’s inaugural pound-for-pound women’s rankings of
the best female fighters in the world.
During an exciting renaissance
for the sport, Shields was able to best a strong lineup of
female fighters including Irish unified lightweight champion
Katie Taylor, seven-division champ Amanda Serrano, Norway’s
long-time undisputed queen Cecilia Braekhus and her recent
conqueror Jessica McCaskill.
Among her many accomplishments, Shields is a two-time Olympic
Gold Medalist and the first American boxer – female or male – to
win consecutive Olympic boxing gold medals. She became Unified
Super Middleweight World Champion in her fourth professional
fight, Unified Middleweight World Champion in her sixth
professional fight and Unified Super Welterweight World Champion
in her tenth. She also holds the record for becoming a two and
three-weight world champion in the fewest professional fights
and is one of only seven boxers in history, female or male, to
hold all four major world titles in boxing—WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO—simultaneously.
“Claressa is the driving force for women’s boxing!” said her
promoter, Dmitriy Salita of Salita Promotions. “I am happy to
see that ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports, and the
well-respected “Bible of Boxing” Ring Magazine unanimously and
indisputably recognize Claressa’s incredible accomplishments as
the best in the world.”
“I’m proud to see two more Herstoric achievements added to the
unprecedented resume of Claressa Shields,” said her manager,
Mark Taffet, President of Mark Taffet Media. “She continues her
march toward equality for female boxers using her broad
shoulders from both an athletic and a social perspective. I look
forward to the day when she appears on the top pound-for-pound
list among the men with no gender labels.”
