Every so often an athlete comes
along who is considered special. An athlete who gets talked
about by everyone involved in the sport. In the past, it has
been the norm for the majority of these athletes to be male, but
the sport of boxing doesn’t follow the norm. And that’s why one
of the hottest properties in the industry right now is Claressa
Shields.
But what do we know about her, and her magnificent rise through
the ranks to become known as one of the best female boxers right
now?
Claressa Shields: The early years
Born and raised in Flint, Michigan on the 17th March 1995,
Claressa Shields was introduced to the sport by her father Bo,
who was a well known boxer in underground leagues. It wouldn’t
be until later in her childhood though that he managed to get
her into the sport, because he spent around seven years of
Claressa Shields’ life in prison, before he was released when
she was nine years old.
It was then he inspired her by educating her about Laila Ali,
the daughter of the legendary Muhammad Ali. And soon after that,
at the age of 11, she enrolled in boxing lessons at Berston
Field House, a local community center.
This was where she then met the man who still coaches her to
this day, Jason Crutchfield, who would help Claressa chase her
dreams. Dreams that were inspired by her grandmother,
who encouraged her to not let people dictate what she could and
couldn’t do because of her gender.
Climbing the ranks
With Crutchfield in her corner, Claressa Shields’ quickly
climbed the ranks at youth level, and would eventually go on to
win two Junior Olympic championships. Following those two
victories, Shields would then go on to compete in the National
Police Athletic League Championships, her first open-division
tournament. It was here that she claimed the middleweight title,
and was crowned as the top overall fighter. Gaining her
qualification into the US Olympic Trials.
For a long time leading up to this, Claressa Shields was always
talked about being an Olympic hopeful. With questions of whether
she could make it or not in professional boxing as she grew up.
But she was determined to prove a point, with Shields stating:
“It would mean everything to me to get a spot so that people
could stop calling me an ‘Olympic hopeful’. I know I can do it.
I’m telling everyone I will be there.”
And she wasn’t wrong, because at the 2012 Olympic Trials, she
beat a whole host of talent to qualify for the Olympics. Not
only did she beat the then reigning national champion, Franchón
Crews-Dezurn, she also went on to beat the 2010 world champion,
Andrecia Wasson, before dominating Tika Hemingway to win the
middleweight class. That was followed by further victories
against the three-time defending world champion Mary Spencer,
which would take her record to 26-0.
However, Claressa Shields’ perfect record was tarnished when she
lost against Savannah Marshall from Hartlepool, England. Also
known as the sporting cousin of esports journalist and streamer, Stuart "Stubat" Hannon.
Despite that loss though, she still managed to qualify despite a
change of rules that would make qualifying a tougher task by
requiring her to finish top two in the North, Central and South
American Boxing Confederation, when previously a top-8 finish
would have sufficed.
From Olympic hopeful to Olympic
Champion
Having qualified for the London Olympics in 2012, She went on to
dominate the tournament. Beating a number of up-and-coming
fighters, which ended with her beating the Russian boxer,
Nadezda Torlopova by decision with the contest being scored
19-12. And four years later, she would go on to win back-to-back
Olympic gold medals at middleweight, the first American boxer to
do so, when she won against the dutch boxer Nouchka Fontijn.
Between those two years, she also won gold at the 2014 and 2016
World Championships in the middleweight division, as well as
gold in the 2015 Pan American Games (PAG) in the light
heavyweight division. Becoming the first American to win titles
in women’s boxing at both the Olympics and the PAG.
It was following this that she decided to go professional,
ending her amateur career with 77 wins, 19 by way of knockout,
and just that one loss she experienced to Savannah Marshall.
Going professional
After deciding to go professional, it was a whole new challenge
that Claressa Fields faced. But it is one she would relish and
excel in. To this day, her professional record stands at 11
wins, two by way of knockout, and zero losses. In her
professional career, she has held numerous world championships
across three different weight classes, and still holds the
undisputed light middleweight title. She also held the
undisputed female middleweight title, and in the super
middleweight division unified the WBC and IBF titles.
She achieved all this in record time, making her the quickest
boxer to become a two and three-weight world champion. And not
only that, she was also the only boxer, from both female and
male boxing, to simultaneously hold all four major world titles
in two different weight classes. How long that will be for with
some of the talent around now though, who knows.
What next for Claressa Shields?
There are a number of options next for Claressa Shields, with
one of the most in-demand calls being for Shields to take on Katie Taylor.
However, Taylor already has a fight lined up with Amanda
Serrano, and it’s being dubbed the biggest fight in female
boxing, with one of the biggest payouts in the history of the
sport lined up for the two fighters.
She will no doubt want to take on whoever it is that wins the
megafight though, with both boxers holding a number of titles
already. First though, she has a bout lined up in February 2022
to face the undefeated Russian, Ema Kozin in Cardiff, Wales.
It’s a close fight, but as it stands,
If Shields does come out on top of that bout, which won’t be an
easy contest by any stretch of the imagination, her next match
after that is already lined up. An exciting fight that will see
a rematch to the only fighter to ever beat her at amateur level,
England’s Savannah Marshall. The question is can Claressa claim
redemption second-time around, or will Marshall add the IBF, WBA
and WBC middleweight championships to her current WBO title?
That will be another tough one to call, but we expect the Brit
to be the favorite for that fight. She too is undefeated, and
many opposition fighters have pulled out of fights with her, or
avoided trying to fight her altogether, in fear for what she
will do to them. She’s a ruthless fighter, and it will take
something special to stop her. But if Shields takes the fight
which is apparently pre-agreed to take place mid-2022, then she
will surely be crowned as the best female boxer of her
generation.
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