(MAR 6) Flint, MI-- Women’s
superstar Claressa Shields furthered her claim as boxing’s
“GWOAT” Friday night and became the unified WBC, WBO, IBF & WBA
Junior Middleweight World Champion, by scoring a one-sided
10-round unanimous decision over Marie-Eve Dicaire of St-Eustache,
Quebec, Canada, in the 10-round main event of the historic
all-women’s “SUPERWOMEN: SHIELDS VS. DICAIRE event at the Dort
Financial Center and live on pay-per-view in Shields’ hometown
of Flint, Michigan.
Shields (11-0, 2 KOs) also became
the first boxer in the four-belt era to become an undisputed
world champion in two weight divisions by virtue of her shutout
victory (100-90 by all three judges) over now former champion
Dicaire (17-1).
Uncharacteristically, the
25-year-old Shields turned counterpuncher early in this fight,
to offset Dicaire’s attempts to bounce in and out of range.
Relying on her reflexes to punish any attempt at aggression by
Dicaire, Shields shut the Canadian down and then turned back to
her customary forward aggression later in the bout.
Dicaire landed a quality southpaw left on Shields in round four,
possibly her only significant blow of the fight, and Shields
simply shook it off to no effect.
I can’t be mad about my performance,” said Shields after the
bout. “She just kept elbowing and headbutting me. I tried for
the knockout and I almost had it a couple times, but we’ve got
two minutes and the ref not breaking it up when she’s holding me
and elbowing me. I’m happy but I still wanted the knockout. I
just didn’t have enough time. At the end of the day, I am the
new undisputed champ at 154 and the first boxer to be undisputed
champ twice.”
In the night’s co-main event,
Houston’s undefeated Danielle Perkins (3-0, 1 KO) showed marked
improvement and had a much easier time in her rematch against
Georgia’s Monika “Lay Em Down” Harrison (2-2, 1 KO), scoring a
dominant eight-round unanimous decision while picking up the WBC
Silver Heavyweight Championship in the process.
The former amateur world champion Perkins used every bit of her
superior athleticism, 6’ height and 72-inch reach to move around
the ring and keep the 5’ 10” Harrison at bay with a punishing
southpaw right jab and a steady diet of strong left hands to the
head and body. At times, Referee Michael Griffin appeared to be
considering a stoppage, but the durable Harrison kept coming
forward and swinging for the fences for all eight rounds,
despite the firepower coming her way.
The scores were 80-72 from all three judges.
“I apologize for not getting a knockout. I swear next time I’ll
come back and give it to you, Flint,” said Perkins, post-fight.
“Monika made some adjustments this time. I hit her with some
solid hammers and that girl stayed on her feet so kudos to her.”
Perkins threw 353 punches in the fight and landed 121 including
40.9% of her power shots. Harrison threw 273 shots, but only
found a home for 21 of them.
“I want to be the undisputed female heavyweight champion of the
world,” continued Perkins. “I want to be the best you’ve ever
seen.”
Undefeated bantamweight Jamie “The Miracle” Mitchell (6-0-2, 43
KOs) of Pacific Grove, California, looked impressive in
battering and stopping more-experienced veteran Noemi “La
Rebelde / No-No” Bosques (12-16-3, 2 KOs) in five one-sided
rounds.
With the two-fisted punishment from Mitchell steadily increasing
with every passing round, Referee Gerard White decided the
stumbling and retreating Bosques had had enough and mercifully
waved the fight off at 1:49 of the fifth.
“I was just zoned out. I was doing whatever fit the moment,”
said Mitchell, post-fight. “That’s how I got the knockout.
Thanks to my coaches and thanks to Claressa Shields for putting
me on this card. This is an unforgettable moment for women.”
Prior to scoring the technical knockout, Mitchell landed 48%
(80/167) of her power punches, and 40% (94/234) of her total
punches. Noemi Bosques only landed 24 of 153 punches.
“I like to pick on myself to do better,” said Mitchell of her
performance. “There were certain things I wanted to do, but they
don’t call this girl a gatekeeper for nothing. I wish I had
gotten her out of there quicker and been crisper with my jab.
She was a bit tricky.”
In the opening bout of the broadcast, 2012 Olympic bronze
medalist Marlen Esparza (9-1, 1 KO) stayed busy ahead of her
scheduled challenge of WBC Flyweight Champion Ibeth Zamora in
April with a dominant six-round unanimous decision over Canada’s
Shelly Barnett (now 4-4-2, 2 KO).
Barnett tried to be aggressive, but Esparza’s skills allowed her
to pot shot her bigger opponent, nearly at will, especially as
the fight wore on. “We knew she was tough and bigger,” said
Esparza. “I wanted someone with more weight because I never
fight above 112 lbs. and I think I handled it well. I’m happy
about the way everything played out. I’m happy to have been part
of this event and to be working with Claressa again.”
Esparza threw 352 punches in the fight, landing 126, including
26 body shots and 38.4% of her power shots. Barnett threw 291
and landed 49. The judges’ scores were 60-54, 6-53 x 2.
On the free pre-show portion of the pay-per-view, middleweight
Timur Kerefov stayed undefeated (11-0, 6 KOs) with a TKO 3 over
Saint Petersburg, Florida veteran Manny Woods (now 16-11-1, 6
KOs). Woods left eye couldn’t hold up under the onslaught of
punches from the Russian former amateur star. The time was 1:06.
Kerefov, Detroit via Shalushka, Russia and now training at Kronk
Gym, threw 190 punches in the abbreviated encounter, landing 80,
including 24 body shots. Woods threw 122 and landed just 17.
SUPERWOMEN: SHIELDS VS. DICAIRE was presented by Salita
Promotions in association with Groupe Yvon Michel, dedicated to
this year’s International Women’s Day (Monday, March 8, 2021)
and proudly sponsored by online gambling titans Betonline.net
and plant-based online marketplace Vejii.
Shields said she was happy to have accomplished her latest piece
of history in front of her family and friends in Flint, even if
the pandemic meant a lot fewer fans in attendance.
“With Covid, we couldn't have a full capacity. There are 300
here and that’s the capacity of the day, so we have a full
house. We couldn’t have full capacity, but I know if we could
have, we would have had 6000 people in here. I’m happy to have
been able to do it here (in Flint). I started boxing here at
Berston Fieldhouse at 11 years old. Never in a million years did
I think I’d be on pay-per-view and fighting for an undisputed
title and be one of the biggest stars in boxing. I just wanted
to win an Olympic Gold medal. God has given me two Olympic
medals. I have 12 championship belts now. It doesn’t feel real
to say undisputed twice.”
When asked about two of her remaining rivals in boxing, fellow
superstar Katie Taylor of Ireland and her one-time conqueror in
the amateurs, Savannah Marshall of the UK, Shields brimmed with
confidence.
“Katie Taylor is not the worry. 147 pounds is. They’d have to
pay me a lot to lose my butt and go down to 147. At the end of
the day, I’m a woman. I don’t have big breasts, but I got a nice
butt, so come with that dough and I’ll be there. At least a
million and I’ll be there.
“Savannah Marshall can’t f*** with me. Let’s keep it real.
Savannah Marshall, you won a lucky decision when we were kids.
Also London was hosting the Olympics. If you want to gloat about
beating me 14 points to 8… come on now. And then I went on to
become world champion in three different division and she broke.
She knows she cannot and will not ever be able to f*** with me.
She can come to America. I will go to the UK. We can go to
Mexico. We can go anywhere, and I will f*** her up. She knows
that. She’s scared of me. Savannah Marshall can get it. Tell
Eddie Hearn, he came that whack-ass 250K. Tell him to come with
500K… 750K if he wants me to go to the UK and smoke his girl.
Pay me.”
Dicaire continued her graciousness in post-fight questioning and
promised not to let the loss dampen her future in the sport.
“I think Claressa did a good job tonight,” said Dicaire.
“Tonight, she was the best. Sometimes you win and sometimes you
learn. Tonight, I learned. I think this is just going to allow
me to grow stronger. I don’t box to protect my record or keep my
record at 0 losses. I box to beat champions. Tonight, I had the
chance to fight the real champion. She won this time but count
on me to go back to the gym and work hard and be world champion
again for sure.
Shields, who says her much-publicized MMA debut will likely be
in Las Vegas in June, threw 409 punches in the fight and landed
128 including 34.9% of her power punches. Dicaire threw 263
punches in return but landed just 31.
“Flint Michigan got the baddest boxer in the world!” said
Shields to her fans. “We two-time undisputed. Pacquiao who?
Canelo who? When someone else does what I did let me know.”
#
# #
#
More Information on WBAN, go to our affiliated websites!
www.womensboxing.org
www.womenboxingrecords.com
www.wban2012.com
www.wbanmember.com
www.floridaboxing.com
www.iwbhf.com
www.wban.tv
WBAN's
Group Facebook