Photo: Salita Promotions – Claressa Shields (14-0, 2 KOs) is an 11-time world champion across 3 weight classes and a two-time Olympic gold medallist.
Your great-grandchildren won’t live long enough to see a talent as exceptional as Claressa Shields again. She’s a phenomenon as rare as asperatus clouds.
Shields is the story of the most dominant female boxer in history, a collector of medals and belts who will need to expand her house to fit them all.
Hold on tight… we’re off!
- Gold medalist at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games
- World amateur champion in 2014 and 2016
- First televised main event for a female boxer against Szilvia Szabados in March 2017
- She unified all the 160-pound belts by defeating Christina Hammer in April 2019
- She unified all the 154-pound belts by defeating Marie-Eve Dicaire in March 2021
- She unified all the 168-pound belts by defeating Savannah Marshall, avenging her only amateur loss, in October 2022
You understood correctly. In addition to winning the Olympics twice, the world championships twice, and unifying 3 weight classes, she now wants to snatch Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse’s WBC heavyweight title to add to her collection.
How does one prepare to face the greatest of all time?
Expert Testimony
That’s the question I posed to my good friend Marie-Eve Dicaire, who has experienced it firsthand.
“You have to show up in Detroit convinced that you can beat her. Have respect for your opponent, but above all, have confidence in your abilities; it all starts there,” says the two-time world champion.
I took the opportunity to ask a second question in my new role as interviewer: “Tell me, Marie-Eve, what makes her exceptional? You’ve seen her up close.”
“Her speed is impressive; I’m fast myself, but with Shields, you have to hit your turbo button. Her boxing IQ is very high, her reading of the game too…”
“She makes you make mistakes before you even realize it.”
Thanks to Marie-Eve Dicaire for enduring this barrage of questions.
I Admire Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse
VLJ had 3 options following her world championship victory:
- Grant a rematch to Abril Vidal
- Give a chance to her number 1 contender Danielle Perkins
- Face Claressa Shields in Detroit
Let’s not kid ourselves; Vanessa is the underdog at 10 to 1 against the greatest female boxer in history. She could have chosen the easy route, taken an optional defense, filled the Slush Puppie Center, and even unified against some New Zealanders. Nothing required her to step into the lion’s den.
What interests Lepage-Joanisse is making history, facing the best in the world, biting down on her mouthguard, and giving it her all… the calculations of optional defenses and boxing politics are left to journalists and bloggers.
The final word belongs to her:
“Whether it’s Claressa or someone else, I don’t care! Challenges are a part of my life; I’ve always met them face on, and I intend on staying that way!” proudly declares the current WBC heavyweight champion, Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse.
