Claressa Shields continues to collect belts at a record pace.
Three more titles were claimed by the ‘GWOAT’ who soundly outpointed Danielle Perkins over ten rounds in their undisputed heavyweight championship. Judges David DeJonge (100-89), Rose Lacend (99-89) and Robin Taylor (97-92) all scored for Shields in Sunday’s DAZN main event from Dort Financial Center in her hometown of Flint, Michigan.
Shields–The Ring’s pound-for-pound queen—defended her WBC heavyweight title and won the vacant WBA, IBF and WBO belts to claim undisputed championship status at a third weight.
The homecoming headliner was a continuation of a wave of success enjoyed by Shields, who was the subject of the recently released feature film ‘The Fire Inside.’ The near-capacity crowd on hand was in celebration mode from Shields’ theatrical ring entrance to her latest in-ring masterpiece.
It even came with a less than one-hundred percent version of the sport’s top fighter.
“It feels really unbelievable, to be honest,” Shields told DAZN’s Claudia Trejos. “I had a really hard training camp and just last Friday I tore a ligament in my left shoulder. I wasn’t able to just my good jab. But I asked God to keep delivering me big fights in my hometown, so I went through with it.”
Perkins entered as the naturally bigger fighter in every regard. The 6’2” southpaw—a Division I college basketball player once upon a time—did her best to put her size to her advantage. It worked to a degree, as Shields was a bit short with her right hand in the opening round.
A suggested adjustment by head trainer and former middleweight titlist John David Jackson saw Shields begin to land with regularity from the second round onward. The multi-division champion worked her jab and sought to set up combinations, while nothing of note came in return from Perkins.
Shields nearly had Perkins out during several moments in the third. A right hand rocked the unbeaten first-time title challenger, a punch which repeatedly landed for Shields throughout the round. Perkins eventually fell to the canvas from a push, though also aided by sheet exhaustion and the amount of previously absorbed punishment.
The fight never threatened to get any more competitive, nor did Perkins ever go for broke in a fight where she was never a threat to win rounds, never mind a decision. Shields began to find a home for her left hook, which proved to be more successful than her overhand right which occasionally missed the mark at the tail end of combinations.
Shields nearly tumbled to the canvas late in the fifth, though not from a punch. Her feet tangled with Perkins’ but she caught her balance in time from falling to the deck just as the round ended.
Perkins couldn’t find a way to turn things around and reached a point where the goal simply became to last the distance.
That was nearly taken away from her.
Shields landed a booming right hand on Perkins’ chin in the closing seconds of the tenth and final round. Perkins made it to her feet in time to beat referee Ben Rodriguez’s count and hear the final bell.
The dominant performance was reflected in Compubox's unofficial punchstats. Shields was credited with landing 67-of-185 total punches (36.2 percent). Her stellar defense was too much for Perkins, who landed just 27-of-130 (20.8 percent) as she fell to 5-1 (2 KOs).
Shields (16-0, 3 KOs) has now collected all the available hardware at heavyweight, in addition to her prior runs at middleweight and junior middleweight—in that order. The two-time Olympic Gold medalist also claimed unified title status at super middleweight.
“I knew she would be stronger than I thought,” Shields said. “I still knew I was the bigger puncher. I dropped her, I felt like I dropped her twice, the last one I seen her and was like, “Yeah, let’s do it.” I knew I could do it because I’m a big puncher at heavyweight.
The move up to heavyweight last summer was deemed as a necessity for Shields after running out of challenges at or around the 160-pound division. She dethroned WBC heavyweight titlist Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse via second-round knockout last July 27 in Detroit.
The win also came with the vacant WBO light heavyweight title, which her team has tried to market as her being a five-division titlist.
Regardless, she remained the top fighter in the world regardless of weight. The only question left is the one that remains after every fight—what to do for an encore.
“Honestly, I want to fight two more times this year,” said Shields. “I want to fight against [two-time super middleweight titlist] Franchon Crews [Dezurn]. I want a rematch with Hanna Gabriels. I would love to bring [The Ring super middleweight champion] Savannah Marshall to the U.S. and tap that ass again.
“It’s also on the table if Cris Cyborg or Laila Ali want to fight.”
Jake Donovan is part of the U.S. team for The Ring. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.