(This story first appeared on BoxingJunkie.com.)
Claressa Shields may want to compete exclusively in mixed martial arts if she cares about challenges. Nobody in boxing can touch it.
Shields made Marie-Eve Dicaire, until then unbeaten, appear to have nothing to do in the ring with her, dominating almost every second of each round to win a shutout decision in a junior fight of 10 middleweight rounds on Friday. fair in his hometown Flint, Mich.
In the process, the two-time Olympic champion also became the first fighter of both sexes to become an undisputed champion in two divisions in the age of four belts.
Shields’ only disappointment was not being able to stop Dicaire, which can be attributed in part to the two-minute rounds imposed on boxers and the Canadian’s reluctance to exchange punches.
“I was trying to knock him out,” said Shields. “This is what I wanted. And I almost did it a few times. … At the end of the day, I am the undisputed new champion with 154 pounds – the first boxer to do this in history. And I did it here in Flint, Mich. “
Shields (11-0, 2 KOs) is no stranger to making history.
She became a holder of the three-division title in 10 fights, faster than any other fighter. And she made additional history before entering the ring on Friday, becoming the first woman to head a pay-per-view card just for women.
The fight itself was almost anticlimactic, given Shields’ absolute dominance.
Dicaire, who entered the fight as an IBF beltholder, had no desire to confuse him with Shields. And who could blame her? Each time she did, she was greeted with hard, precise punches that won round after round for Shields.
And when Dicaire (17-1, 0 KOs) released her hands, she rarely found the target. One element of the game of Shields that can be underestimated is its defense.
Dicaire hit 31 out of 263 punches thrown, which is an 11.8 percent connection fee, according to CompuBox. That’s an insignificant average of 3.1 punches landed per round. Shields landed 128 or 409 (28.4 percent).
The only thing that Dicaire did well was to survive, which he did by holding incessantly and using harsh tactics at close range. She hardly gave herself a chance to win the fight.
Almost. Dicaire picked up the pace in the last two rounds in a desperate attempt to do something. However, even so, it was Shields who gave the cleanest and most attractive photos.
The official score came as no surprise: all three judges had the same, a 100-90 draw. The boxing addict also scored 100-90.
Shields retained his WBC and WBO titles, took the IBF belt from Dicaire and won the newly instituted WBA title.
“I’m very happy to be able to do that here,” said Shields. “I started boxing here at the Dort Event Center when I was 11 years old. Never in a million years did I think I would be on pay-per-view and then it would be indisputable twice and just one of the biggest boxing stars in the world.
“I just wanted to win an Olympic gold medal, that was all I wanted. I won two of them. I have, I think, 12 championships now. I am indisputable twice. It is strange to say arguably twice. Is weird.”
Shields, who recently signed with the Professional Fighters League, said he plans to fight boxing alternately and compete in mixed martial arts. She said after Friday’s fight that she hopes to make her debut in mid-June, although this has evidently not been finalized.
This does not leave you much time to enjoy your victory.
“My birthday is March 17th,” said Shields, who turns 26. “So, I’m already back at the gym.”