Claressa Shields had another standout night on Saturday, winning the WBC and WBA world middleweight belts off of Kaye Scott with a dominant performance in front of 16,000 fans in Atlanta.
Shields was fighting three weight classes down from where she previously competed but didn’t have any trouble taking the Australian Scott out. At the end of round six, Scott’s corner had seen enough. They threw multiple towels into the ring to signal the fight was over (highlights here).
Following the bout, Shields
admitted she’d come into the fight with a knee injury.
“I sprained my knee,” she said in the ring. “Everybody keep asking me about my dang knee brace. I sprained my knee two weeks ago working on delivering my power and my thing popped out on my leg. So I’m trying to make sure this don’t pop out during the fight. So I had to wear this thing the past two weeks.”
“But I felt really good, and I feel really strong. And I can’t wait to fight against Lauren Price at 160.”
Lauren Price has been the name atop Shields’ list, but not the only name. Notably absent: PFL and former UFC champion Cris Cyborg.
“If I can get it in between December and January,” she said of a Price fight. “If not, I will get a fight against Mikaela [Mayer] or Tamm ]Thibeault]. [Price] got the rest of three belts. She only had that many fights in the professionals, but she got belt.”
“It’s not my fault this girl don’t had the experience that I have. But hey, she got a belt that I know belongs to me, and that’s the Ring belt. I’ve always been number one at 160. And when I decided to come back down to one sixty, that automatically made me number one.”
Shields did her work in front of a sold out crowd in Georgia, an impressive feat in womens’ boxing. Asked at the post-fight press conference if she needed a proper rival to reach another level of stardom, “The GWOAT” said no.
“I feel like it’s a blessing and a curse for me because I box so good that you’re never going to see a girl be in the ring and be 50/50 with me,” she said. “It’s just not going to happen. And it’s not going to happen because I’m just almighty and everything. It’s not going to happen because God basically chose me to be number one and I train to be number one and I diet and I run and I continue to never be complacent.”
“So while these girls be sitting there watching and trying to catch up, I just keep getting further and further ahead. And I don’t need another dance partner who can give me a challenge or who isn’t easy to beat because they’re all easy to beat.”
“I would just say that I’m in my Mike Tyson era right now,” Shields concluded. “Everybody showing up to these arenas to come see what Claressa Shields going to do. They don’t give a damn who the opponent is.”
