SHIELDS OF GOLD
How to unify three weight classes in 10 fights, by Claressa Shields.
1. FRANCHON CREWS DEZURN
Shields, a two-time Olympic champion, makes her professional bow in November 2016 against fellow debutant Franchon Crews Dezurn. The fight in Las Vegas goes the full four rounds and Shields wins every one of them. Dezurn went on to win a world belt at 168lbs.
2. SZILVIA SZABADOS
Shields meets Szabados in what is her first title fight in March 2017. It’s for the vacant NABF female middleweight title and Shields wins in the fourth.
3. SYDNEY LEBLANC
Not only is this Shields’ first eight-rounder as a pro but Leblanc manages to extend her the distance. Shields takes every round, of course.
4. NIKKI ADLER
Shields’ first stab at gold arrives in August 2017 when she battles Adler over 10 rounds for WBC and IBF supermiddleweight belts. Adlerm is undefeated in 16 pro fights but is stopped inside five rounds.
5. TORI NELSON
This January 2018 fight sees Shields successfully defend both her WBC and IBF titles against Nelson but have to go the full 10 rounds for the first time as a pro. Nelson, like Adler before her, is unbeaten but completely overmatched.
6. HANNA GABRIELS
Just when it all seems to be getting too easy for Shields, she slugs away with Gabriels in June 2018 and finds herself decked for the first time as a pro in round one. She rallies back to win, but this drop down to middleweight, where she won vacant WBA and IBF titles, comes with a warning.
7. HANNAH RANKIN
Scotland’s Rankin is next up for Shields in November 2018 with three middleweight belts on the line, the vacant WBC crown having been added to the WBA and IBF belts Shields won against Gabriels. Rankin is plucky but doesn’t win a round.
8. FEMKE HERMANS
Shields whitewashes Hermans in December 2018, less than a month after beating Rankin, and barely gets out of first gear.
9. CHRISTINA HAMMER
In April 2019, Shields and Hammer collide for all the middleweight marbles in Atlantic City. Shields proves her superiority over the 10 rounds shared.
10. IVANA HABAZIN
Now at super-welterweight, Shields has seemingly retained the dominance she showed as a middleweight and super-middleweight and starts her reign with a 10-round thrashing of Habazin to take the vacant WBC and WBO titles.