Claressa Shields


Claressa Maria Shields is an American professional boxer. She has held multiple world championships in three weight classes, having reigned as the undisputed female middleweight champion of the world since 2019; the unified WBC and WBO light middleweight titles since January 2020; and previously the unified WBC, and IBF female super middleweight titles from 2017 to 2018. Shields currently holds the record for becoming a two and three-weight world champion in the fewest professional fights. As of May 2020, she is ranked as the world's best active female middleweight and seventh best active female, pound for pound, by BoxRec.
Shields 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, along with Bernard Hopkins, Jermain Taylor, Cecilia Brækhus, Terence Crawford, Oleksandr Usyk, and Katie Taylor.
In a decorated amateur career, Shields won gold medals 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 middleweight division. In May, she qualified for the 2012 games, 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. In 2018, the Boxing Writers Association of America named her the Female Fighter of the Year.

Early life

Shields was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, where she was a high school junior in May 2012. She was introduced to boxing by her father, Bo Shields, who had boxed in underground leagues. Bo was in prison from the time Shields was two years old, and released when she was nine. After his release he talked to her about boxer Laila Ali, piquing her interest in the sport, although Bo nevertheless believed that boxing was a men's sport and refused to allow Shields to pursue it until she was eleven. At that time she began boxing, often to the dismay of the Beary-Hands, at Berston Field House in Flint, where she met her coach and trainer, Jason Crutchfield. Shields credits her grandmother with encouraging her to not accept restrictions based on her gender.

Amateur career

After winning two Junior Olympic championships, Shields competed in her first open-division tournament, the National Police Athletic League Championships 2011; she won the middleweight title and was named top overall fighter and also qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials. At the 2012 Olympic Trials, she defeated the reigning national champion, Franchón Crews-Dezurn, the 2010 world champion, Andrecia Wasson, and Pittsburgh's Tika Hemingway to win the middleweight class. In April 2011, she won her weight class at the Women's Elite Continental Championships in Cornwall, Ontario against three-time defending world champion Mary Spencer of Canada; she held an undefeated record of 25 wins and 0 losses at that point.
Following Shields' victory at the U.S. Olympic Trials, it was initially reported that she would need only a top-8 finish at the 2012 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships in Qinhuangdao, China, in order to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. On May 10, the day after the contest began but before Shields' first bout, a change to the rules was announced that meant Shields would need to place in the top two from the American Boxing Confederation region of AIBA. Shields won her first round, but suffered an upset loss in the second round on May 13 to Savannah Marshall of England, bringing Shields' record to 26-1. Her chances for qualification thus depended on Marshall's subsequent performance; after Marshall advanced to the middleweight finals on May 18, it was announced that Shields had earned an Olympic berth. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, she won the gold medal in the women's middleweight division after beating Russian boxer Nadezda Torlopova 19–12.
In 2014, Shields won the World Championship gold medal, and the following year, she became the first American to win titles in women's boxing at the Olympics and Pan American Games.
Shields won the gold medal at the 2016 AMBC Olympic Qualifying tournament in Argentina. Later that year at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, she won the gold medal in the women's middleweight division by defeating Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands. She was the only gold medalist from the American team and was awarded the inaugural women's division of the Val Barker Trophy at the competition. Her back-to-back Olympic gold medal wins made her the first American boxer—female or male—to win consecutive Olympic titles.
Her amateur boxing record was 77 wins and 1 loss.

Professional career

In November 2016, Shields officially went pro. She won her first match, against Franchón Crews-Dezurn, 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, in just her sixth professional fight, Shields defeated Hanna Gabriel by unanimous decision, winning the vacant WBA and inaugural IBF middleweight belts, breaking the record for becoming a two-weight world champion in the fewest professional fights, a record previously held by Vasyl Lomachenko. During Round 1, she experienced the first knock down of her professional career. She dropped down from 168 pounds to 160 for the fight. This was her first fight with trainer John David Jackson, having worked with Jason Crutchfield for the previous 5.
On December 8, 2018, Shields' fight aired on HBO, her first appearance on the network, a fight which was a part of the last boxing card to occur on HBO.
On April 13, 2019, Shields became the undisputed women's middleweight world champion, unifying the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO middleweight titles, along with The Ring magazine's inaugural middleweight belt, after defeating Christina Hammer by unanimous decision. The victory was a near shutout with two judges scoring the bout 98–91 while a third judge scored it 98–92.
Shields was scheduled to fight Ivana Habazin for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title in Flint, Michigan, on October 5, 2019. However, the fight was postponed due to Habazin's trainer being attacked at the weigh in.
On January 10, 2020, the battle between Shields and Habazin took place with an all female ring. Claressa won by unanimous decision, 99-89, 100-90 and 100-89, and became the fastest ever to win titles in 3 divisions male or female in history.

Personal life

Shields is from Flint, Michigan. Shields was baptized at age 13 and began attending a local church. She found strength in her Christian faith and eventually left home.
Shields attempted to adopt her cousin's daughter in 2014.
Shields is an ambassador for Up2Us Sports, a national non-profit organization dedicated to supporting underserved youth by providing them with coaches trained in positive youth development.

Filmography

Shields is the subject of the 2015 documentary "T-Rex: Her Fight for Gold." In 2016 Universal Pictures, a division of Comcast, which holds Olympic broadcast rights in the United States, acquired the rights to produce a film about her life story. Barry Jenkins is the screenwriter.
Shields will be acting in the Susan Seidelman-directed film Punch Me.
In 2018, Shields acted in a Walmart ad directed by Dee Rees.

Awards

In 2017, Shields won the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Sports Award for "Biggest Powerhouse." In 2018, Shields was inducted into the USA Boxing Alumni Association's Hall of Fame. The Boxing Writers Association of America gave her the 2018 Christy Martin Award - Female Fighter of the Year.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
10Win10–0 Ivana HabazinUD10Jan 10, 2020Ocean Casino Resort, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S..png" />Won vacant WBC, and WBO light middleweight titles
9Win9–0 Christina HammerUD10Apr 13, 2019 Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.Retained WBA, WBC, and IBF female middleweight titles;
Won WBO, and inaugural The Ring female middleweight titles
8Win8–0 Femke HermansUD10Dec 8, 2018 StubHub Center, Carson, California, U.S.Retained WBA, WBC, and IBF female middleweight titles
7Win7–0 Hannah RankinUD10Nov 17, 2018 Kansas Star Arena, Mulvane, Kansas, U.S.Retained WBA and IBF female middleweight titles;
Won vacant WBC female middleweight title
6Win6–0 Hanna GabrielUD10Jun 22, 2018 Masonic Temple, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.Won vacant WBA and inaugural IBF female middleweight titles
5Win5–0 Tori NelsonUD10Jan 12, 2018 Turning Stone Resort Casino, Verona, New York, U.S.Retained WBC and IBF female super middleweight titles;
Won WBAN lineal super middleweight title
4Win4–0 Nikki AdlerTKO5, 1:34Aug 4, 2017 MGM Grand, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.Won WBC and inaugural IBF female super middleweight titles
3Win3–0 Sydney LeBlancUD8Jun 16, 2017 Masonic Temple, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.Won vacant WBC Silver female super middleweight title
2Win2–0 Szilvia Szabados4, 1:30Mar 10, 2017 MGM Grand, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.Won vacant NABF female middleweight title
1Win1–0 Franchón Crews-Dezurn4Nov 19, 2016 T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.