STRONG AND MIGHTY
Jack Hirsch wonders where Shields can go next
What next for the formidable Claressa Shields after her latest victory?
YOU heard it here first. The day will come when
Claressa Shields
will be matched against a man. A bold prediction for sure, but it might be the only way to keep the momentum in her career going. That much was apparent after Shields easily outpointed Hannah Rankin, winning all 10 rounds (100-90) on the scorecards of judges Mike Contreras, Karen Holderfield and David Sutherland. Thomas Taylor refereed.
The above is sure to invoke some memories of Billie Jean King taking on an aged Bobby Riggs, but the situations are different. The tennis great had viable competition within the women’s ranks. Shields, from Flint, Michigan, has very little apart from Christina Hammer – a two-weight world titlist like Shields – who she was scheduled to box on this night until illness forced Hammer to withdraw. Doubtless it will be rescheduled, but if Shields does the business in that one there is little on the horizon that would interest the public going forward. There is already talk of a mouth-watering clash with unified world lightweight champ Katie Taylor, but considering the disparity in weight between them it is hard to envision it ever happening.
Consider this: Shields and Rankin had a combined 13 fights between them, yet were contesting three world middleweight titles, those being the vacant WBC belt and Shields’ WBA and IBF crowns. Not to mention that Rankin was coming off a loss to WBA supermiddle ruler Alicia Napoleon in her last outing. That alone is compelling evidence of how far women’s boxing still has to go.
Glasgow’s Rankin scored a moral victory of sorts by managing to stay on her feet the whole way, but save for a short period of time in the sixth round where she stood her ground and landed a couple of rights, she was on the defensive throughout. Shields fired away from mid-ring with hard jabs. She punched authoritatively with both hands, but the Scottish challenger was defensively adept, which enabled her to avoid getting overwhelmed.
By the second half of the bout, the two-time Olympic gold medallist made more of an effort to get a stoppage, but Rankin, to her credit, hung tough. In the ninth, a headbutt upset Shields, who then opened up and connected heavily.