WOMEN IN POWER

As Claressa Shields prepares for her latest middleweight title defence, we take a look at the 10 best female fighters on the planet

1 CLARESSA SHIELDS

She calls herself the GWOAT (Greatest Woman of

All Time) and it’s hard to argue. Currently, Shields is unbeaten in 13 pro fights and holds all the middleweight titles. She also previously held all the major belts at super-welterweight, and three at supermiddle.

2 CHANTELLE CAMERON

A new star on the scene, Cameron announced her arrival at the highest level on May 20 with an upset win over Katie Taylor in Dublin.

3 KATIE TAYLOR

Despite suffering her first pro loss, against Cameron last month, Taylor remains a legend of the sport and an icon in Ireland. She reigned as world lightweight champion from 2017 to 2022 and has won 22 of 23 pro fights.

4 AMANDA SERRANO

Serrano turned pro all the way back in 2009 and has, quite incredibly, managed to win titles as a superflyweight, bantamweight, super-bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight and super-lightweight.

5 ALYCIA BAUMGARDNER

Baumgardner first rose to prominence when she travelled to Sheffield in 2021 to stop Terri Harper in four rounds. A subsequent win over Mikaela Mayer has only further enhanced her standing.

6 YOKASTA VALLE

Born in Nicaragua but based in Costa Rica, Valle, in 2022, added a light-flyweight belt to her collection that already contained titles at strawweight.

7 NATASHA JONAS

Quite the Cinderella story, Jonas recovered from a shocking loss against Viviane Obenauf in 2018 to push Katie Taylor to the wire in 2021 and then win a host of super-welterweight titles in 2022.

8 SENIESA ESTRADA

Known as 'Super Bad', Estrada is undefeated in 24 pro fights and the current WBA and WBC minimumweight belt-holder.

9 MARLEN ESPARZA

Since losing a ninth-round technical decision (due to a cut from an accidental headbutt) against Estrada in 2019, Esparza has won six fights on the bounce and two flyweight belts.

10 YESICA NERY PLATA

Mexico’s Plata won the WBA light-flyweight title in 2018 when beating Silvia Torres over 10 rounds, and then went on to add the WBC version to her collection when outpointing Kim Clavel over 10 rounds in January of this year.