Photo: Ronnie Martin ~ 760 WJR
DETROIT, July 29, 2024 ~ Flint native Claressa Shields told the truth when she said Saturday’s fight would end spectacularly.
Shields moved up multiple weight classes for a shot at the women’s vacant WBO light heavyweight and WBC heavyweight championships, respectively, the latter being defended by Canadian Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse.
PODCAST:
July 23, 2024 ~ Flint native Claressa Shields joins Guy Gordon, Lloyd Jackson, and Jaime Edmonds in-studio to talk about her upcoming WBC heavyweight title fight against Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse at Little Caesars Arena, her status as the ‘GWOAT‘ (the greatest woman of all-time), and visiting with Team USA before they left for the Olympics in Paris.
(CONTINUED) After scoring a knockdown in the opening round, Shields (15-0, 3KOs) smelled blood in the water and proved to be too much for Lepage-Joanisse (22-3-1) in the second. Two more knockdowns later, Shields closed the show with a TKO late in the second round.
“The newfound power does feel good,” Shields said. “It f***ing shocked me, I’m not going to lie.”
The rowdy crowd at Little Caesars Arena, which included Detroit boxing legends such as Thomas “Hitman” Hearns, witnessed history Saturday night. With her victory over Lepage-Joanisse, Shields became the only woman to ever win gold as a middleweight and heavyweight. Over the last century, Roy Jones Jr. is the only other boxer to do it.
Shields circled Lepage-Joanisse for most of the first round, searching for ways to implement her offense. Shields scored her first knockdown of the fight with a right hook, and it turned out to be the beginning of the end.
“When I countered her with that hook in the first round, I thought it was about to be over then,” Shields said. “I was definitely going to work her body, especially when I saw how strong she was in the first round. Then second round she just ran up on me, so I was like f**k the jab, hit her with a right hand and a hook and see what happens.”
It was Shields’ first victory by stoppage since 2017. Shields said she felt comfortable in the new weight class.
“I think we were very strategic with (the diet),” Shields said. “I was able to eat all my grains and everything. I did feel strong tonight, and I’m a little scared of myself.”
One of Shields’ nicknames, GWOAT, stands for the greatest woman of all time. After Saturday night, she said she sees herself among the top athletes to ever walk the earth.
“People may not look at boxing as being one of those top sports for whatever reason, but with what I’ve been able to do in my career from the amateurs to the pros now, I’m definitely top five,” Shields said. “If you want to put me up there next to Michael Jordan, next to Kobe, Serena Williams, Muhammad Ali, I’m definitely in that conversation. But, that’s the thing, I don’t really care what people think about me.”
Shields has ten days to decide whether she will stay in the heavyweight division or move back down.
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