BY: JORDAN ROSAS
On the first Friday night of Women’s History Month, Claressa Shields made boxing history, or rather, HERstory by becoming the first boxer, male or female, to become a unified, undisputed champion of two different weight classes in the four-belt era of boxing.
Her opponent was fellow undefeated champion Marie Eve Decaire (17-0), but Shields was so dominant that all three judges awarded her all ten rounds in a unanimous decision.
Already, at just 11-0 as a professional, Shields is no stranger to firsts. During a 77-1 amateur career, she became the first American boxer to win consecutive Olympic gold medals. She won her first professional world title, as a Super Middleweight, in just her fourth fight, less than a year after turning pro. In her sixth pro fight, two bouts later broke Ukrainian star Vasyl Lomachenko’s record for the fewest fights to win a world title in two different weight classes when she won a title as a Middleweight.
In her ninth fight, she unified the Middleweight division. In her next fight, she successfully won a title in her third division, dropping down to Light Middleweight. And now, in just her 11th professional fight, she did what
no fighter has ever done before. She unified a second division, and she did it in her hometown.
Even though she’s only 25 years old, the fighting pride of Flint, Mich., seems to have little left to prove in boxing. Next on the horizon for Shields is pursuing her MMA career, though she doesn’t plan to leave boxing. Her eventual goal is to win and simultaneously hold titles in two different combat disciplines. She looks to fight twice in MMA and once more in boxing this year.
It will be a difficult and fascinating challenge, but that’s never stopped the trailblazer before.
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