Photo: Adam J. Dewey – Claressa Shields (15-0, 3 KOs) left no room for maneuver for Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse (7-2, 2 KOs), who, despite all her courage, succumbed in the 2nd round last Saturday at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Very few people expected Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse to surprise the greatest of all time, Claressa Shields. But even the most pessimistic did not expect the latter to win in less than 2 rounds…
This is part of the risk when you accept to face an exceptional athlete; sometimes you can suffer the wrath of an exceptional performance.
And now?
Claressa Shields thus grabs the WBC heavyweight title, as well as the vacant WBO light heavyweight title. Will her incredible performance convince her to stay at 175 lbs? We’ll see. Among her options, she could make another offer to New Zealander Lani Daniels (10-2-2, 1 KO) to secure the missing IBF title. Daniels will defend it against Nigerian Bolatito Oluwole (9-0, 5 KOs) next September. Otherwise, there’s always American Danielle Perkins (5-0, 2 KOs), the #1 WBC contender who fought on the Shields-Joanisse undercard.
For Vanessa, the names are almost the same; Daniels/Oluwole, Perkins, or an intriguing rematch with Abril Vidal. All this could even be for a vacant title if Shields decides to drop back down to 168 or 160 lbs.
I’m not really worried about ‘Vany’. If people say how much of a “fighter” she is every time they talk about her, it’s because it’s true. And for Claressa Shields, who just proved it once again; if people always say she’s the greatest of all time, that too, is because it’s true.
WAR CHISORA
Earlier in the day, in England, we were treated to quite a surprise. The warrior of warriors, Derek ‘Del Boy’ Chisora (35-13, 23 KOs) possibly achieved his biggest career victory by unanimously defeating the ‘Juggernaut’ Joe Joyce (16-3, 15 KOs).
Joyce may never have recovered from his defeat to Zhilei Zhang, but I absolutely do not want that to take anything away from Chisora’s victory.
Think about it. Unlike Joyce, and at 41 years old, the British native of Zimbabwe managed to recover from 13 defeats! He has faced everyone: Tyson Fury (3 times), Robert Helenius, Vitali Klitschko, David Haye, Kubrat Pulev (2 times), Dillian Whyte (2 times), Agit Kabayel, Carlos Takam, Artur Szpilka, David Price, Oleksandr Usyk, Joseph Parker (2 times), Gerald Washington, and now Joe Joyce.
His Boxrec record should immediately be printed and displayed in a museum. And until his retirement, I wish him all the lucrative fights in the world.
Itauma Passes the Test
On the undercard, Mariusz Wach (38-11, 20 KOs) is another veteran who has faced quite a few people. However, things went much worse for the 44-year-old Viking, who was stopped in 2 rounds by the 19-year-old super-prospect and favorite of Laurent Poulin, Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs).
Canelo-Berlanga Confirmed
No great surprise, the Mexico vs. Puerto Rico fight between Canelo Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) and Edgar Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) has been confirmed for next September 14 in Las Vegas. I don’t have much else to say, except – like almost everyone else – to share my disappointment. If you want to talk about it, I invite you to write to my friend Manny Montreal privately to know his opinion.
Lara-Garcia in the co-feature
In the c0-main event of Canelo-Berlanga, ‘The American Dream’ Erislandy Lara (30-3-3, 18 KOs) will defend his WBA middleweight title against Danny ‘Swift’ Garcia (37-3, 21 KOs).
The fact that Garcia, former champion at 140 and 147 lbs, is getting a world title fight at 160 lbs, represents everything wrong with boxing. To summarize: he hasn’t fought in over 2 years, has never fought above 153 lbs, and has a 4-3 record in his last 7 fights (going back 7 years).
It’s a bit terrible, but Lara will soon be 42 years old, so anything is possible.
Towards Scull-Shishkin?
The only surprise related to the announcement of Canelo-Berlanga is that the IBF would finally have put its foot down by stripping Canelo Alvarez of his title. Tragically, it’s boxing’s most suspicious mandatory contender, William Scull (22-0, 9 KOs), who would get his shot at the vacant title, possibly against the #2 contender, Vladimir Shishkin (16-0, 10 KOs).
Benavidez is a Light Heavyweight
Speaking of which, David Benavidez confirmed this week that he is staying at 175 lbs. This is good news for Mbilli, who may get his chance – at least – at the interim WBC title in the coming months.
But again, it’s a good representation of everything wrong with boxing. After 3 years of waiting, Benavidez never got his chance against Canelo, and Mbilli, he’s still waiting…
The PG Agenda:
Five fights to watch this week:
Crawford vs. Madrimov
Riyadh Season makes its American debut, precisely at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, with a gigantic fight between Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) and Ismail Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs). ‘Bud’ makes his debut at 154 lbs, his 4th weight division, and the Uzbek defends his WBA title for the first time, with a chance to grab the interim WBO title. It’s hard not to favor the one many see as the best in the world, but I’m very eager to see this, as I refuse to underestimate Dmitry Bivol’s best friend…
Morrell vs. Kalajdzic
Attention, I’m about to list the Crawford-Mardimov undercard. Just like David Benavidez, David Morrell Jr (10-0, 9 KOs) is moving up to 175 lbs. With the ‘regular’ WBA title on the line, he will face former Artur Beterbiev title contender Radivoje ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic (29-2, 21 KOs), who will be heavily underestimated. Another reason to support this underdog is that Quebec trainer Jessy Ross Thompson, now based in Florida, will be in his corner.
Anderson vs. Bakole
The “Big Baby” Jared Anderson (17-0, 15 KOs) will finally have the chance to prove he is the next great American heavyweight against the 300-pound Congolese monster, Martin Bakole (20-1, 15 KOs).
Ruiz vs. Miller
Former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. (35-2, 22 KOs) returns to the ring after a two-year hiatus against the other “Big Baby,” Jarrell Miller (26-1-1, 22 KOs).
Also on the card: ‘Pitbull’ Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) defends his WBA light welterweight title against ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela (13-2, 9 KOs). Cuban phenom Andy Cruz (3-0, 1 KO) will also be in action.
Chelli vs. Simpson
To get out of Los Angeles, in England, Zak Chelli (15-2-1, 7 KOs) will face Callum Simpson (14-0, 10 KOs) in a local British fight that could propel its winner to the world stage of 168 lb.
On that note, I wish everyone a delicious week of boxing!
