WBC Woman: Claressa Shields

There are some iconic characters in the world of boxing, figures that enrich the history of our sport through their feats, their championships won, their fights and, above all, the path they pave for future generations.

If we talk about brilliant people, who have conquered everything, who do not stop, who fight for their dreams despite everything and everyone; without a doubt we couldn’t fail to mention Claressa Shields…

Below we remember some of the best moments of “GWOAT” Shields, who at 29 years old has managed to position herself as one of the best fighters in the entire history of the sport.

Amateur Career

Claressa Shields’ Olympic glory started in London 2012, when she was just 17 years old. She began the tournament a relative unknown and ended it as the only American to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing that year, after defeating 33-year-old Russian Nadezda Torlopova 19-12 in the middleweight final.

Four years later, Shields returned to the Olympic world at Rio 2016 to defeat the favorite Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands in the middleweight final to become the first female or male fighter from the United States to win consecutive Olympic gold medals.

Professional Career

On November 19, 2016, Shields made her professional debut facing none other than the current WBC super middleweight champion, Franchon Crews-Dezurn. The fight was thrillingly intense and marked Claressa’s brilliant start.

On August 4, 2017, she captured her first world title, the WBC super middleweight, defeating the previously undefeated Nikki Adler via KO.

On June 22, 2018 she took another step towards history, facing the also historic Hanna Gabriels and winning the IBF and WBA Middleweight titles; In this way she managed to conquer a second division. On November 17, 2018, she took the WBC world middleweight title from Hanna Rankin.

April 13, 2019, she starred in one of the most anticipated fights: Undefeated Champion (Shields) vs Undefeated Champion (Christina Hammer) for the undisputed 160-pound title. Shields showed her technical superiority by defeating her German rival.

For her next fight on January 10, 2020, she decided to drop one division (154 pounds) to conquer a third category and she did so by defeating Ivana Habazin.

On March 5, 2021, she made yet more history by becoming undisputed champion again, this time in the super welterweight division. She took all the belts defeating the previously unbeaten Marie Eve Dicaire by a wide margin.

After this triumph, she returned to the middleweight division with the mission of becoming undisputed once again and after taking Ema Kozin’s undefeated record, she conquered the IBF, WBA and WBC middleweight belts.

Everything was ready for another war between undefeated champions for middleweight supremacy. Many believe that Claressa Shields’ biggest test was against Savannah Marshall. The first part of the fight tilted in Shields’ favor. Marshall managed to press in the final rounds, however, it was not enough. Through a brilliant performance, Shields became a 3x Undisputed Champion and one of the best fighters in the history of our sport.

Today, the World Boxing Council specially recognizes this authentic legend of the sport. At 29 years old and full of motivation and talent, we look forward to her next performances in the ring. Without a doubt, what Claressa Shields has achieved is something exceptional, that only the gifted with excellence can conquer.

Claressa Shields, Proud World Boxing Council Champion.