Claressa Shields Cements Her Status As All-Time Great By Winning More Gold

Claressa Shields
Credit: David Rodriguez Munoz / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Claressa Shields is considered by many to be the greatest female boxer of all-time. And if anybody was still on the fence about that, she answered those questions on Sunday.

Shields became the first boxer – male or female – in the four-belt era to become the undisputed champion in three different weight classes. She won the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles with a stunning performance vs. Danielle Perkins.

Related: Boxing Tonight: Fight Card, TV Info And Latest Betting Odds For Upcoming Fights On DAZN, ESPN, More

Along with the heavyweight crown, Shields has been the undisputed champion at both junior middleweight and middleweight. She is now a perfect 16-0 in her career, dropping Perkins before securing the decision.

The fight, though, nearly didn’t take place. Shields explained in front of her hometown that she suffered a serious injury just days before it was set to go down inside the ring.

Claressa Shields Fought With Serious Injury To Her Body

“I actually think I’m going to have to have surgery on my left arm,” Shields said (thanks to ESPN for the quotes). “I tore my labrum last week, so the fight almost didn’t happen. I didn’t want to let Flin down, but I really couldn’t use my jab the way that I wanted to. Did the best that I could; I iced it, did therapy and now I think I’m going to have to have shoulder surgery.”

Perkins suffered her first loss in six pro fights with the defeat. She landed just 19 percent of her punches vs. Shields, who gave Perkins credit for being “strong as hell.”

“She was definitely a problem,” she said. “My experience and my skills got me over it. I’ve been in plenty of street fights with bigger people and I had to use some of my skills in that.”

Read more: Claressa Shields Signs New Multi-Year Deal With PFL

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