Shields makes boxing history with unanimous decision win
FLINT, MICHIGAN — Claressa Shields won a unanimous decision over Canada’s Marie-Eve Dicaire in their junior middleweight title unification bout on Friday night, becoming the first boxer in the fourbelt era, male or female, to become an undisputed champion in two different weight classes.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist from the United States won 100-90 on all three cards in the headline attraction, which marked the first time in 20 years a women’s boxing match was the main event of a pay-per-view.
Shields (11-0) was fighting in her hometown of Flint – in a matchup that was previously scheduled for 9 May before being called off because of the coronavirus. Shields also had a fight scheduled against Ivana Habazin in Flint in 2019, but that was scrapped after an altercation before the weigh-in. Shields eventually defeated Habazin in a rescheduled fight in New Jersey.
Shields landed 116 of 409 punches (28%), compared to 31 of 263 for Dicaire (12%).
With the win over Dicaire (17-1), Shields became the unified WBC, WBO, IBF and WBA champion at 154lbs. She had previously unified all four of the major sanctioning body belts at 160lbs with a points win over Christina Hammer in April 2019.
Shields said she will take a week to celebrate her birthday and before setting up camp in New Mexico ahead of her mixed martial arts debut in June.
After the fight Shields called out Britain's Savannah Marshall, the WBO middleweight champion and the only women to beat her as an amateur.
"You won a lucky decision when we were kids," Shields said.
However, Shields laughed when asked it she would drop down weight divisions to face Ireland's Katie Taylor, saying it would take "a million dollars".