Boxer Claressa Shields has made boxing history as the first-ever female, undisputed heavyweight champion.
On February 2, Shields dropped her competition, Danielle Perkins, causing her to make boxing history. She is also the first male or female boxer to be the undisputed champion in three different weight classes in the four-belt era.
Perkins came into the match with a career record of 5-1, while Shields remained undefeated at a 16-0 record.
According to CompuBox Stats, Shields connected on 29% of her punches and 36% of her power punches, while Perkins landed only 19% of her punches. The judges scored the fight 97-92, 99-90 and 100-89 for Shields.
Shields was nothing short of elated at her accomplishment. “I actually think I’m going to have to have surgery on my left arm. I tore my labrum last week, so the fight almost didn’t happen,” Shields said after the match via ESPN.
“I felt strong in there, but I know Danielle Perkins felt stronger. That girl was strong as hell,” Shields said. “She was strong; she was definitely a problem. My experience and my skills got me over it and also, I’ve been in plenty of street fights with bigger people and I had to use some of my skills in that today, too. So, when I dropped her in the last round, it’s because she got greedy.” Shields added.
Shields has, without a doubt, used her skill and experience to excel and beat her competition while making history and paving the way for women in boxing.
