Boxer Claressa Shields Makes History, Becomes Fastest Fighter To Win Titles In 3 Weight Classes

Boxer Claressa Shields Makes History, Becomes Fastest Fighter To Win Titles In 3 Weight Classes

Upcoming two-time Olympic gold medalist boxer, Claressa Shields made history on Friday (Jan. 10th), remaining undefeated following her unanimous win over Ivana Habazin at Ovation Hall in Atlantic City. Claressa Shields won on the scorecards 99-89, 100-90, 100-89 to bring home the junior middleweight title while still holding the undisputed middleweight title, a world title in a third weight class in just her 10th bout.

Shields’ victory on Friday sets the record for fewest number of fights needed to win in three divisions for a female or male boxer. As she wore a crown over her blue, braided hair, the olympic gold medalist takes claim of her historic win saying,

“This feels great — I did it in 10 fights. Now I’m No. 1, the fastest boxer in history to become a three-division world champion. I was [trying to punish her]. I wanted victory.”

To prepare for her match on Friday, the 3-time divisional world champion entered into the ring to the sound of Beyonce’s “Run The World” with a choreographed routine with her entourage. Shields took to Twitter to note how the singer inspired her during her way to the ring,

“LEGENDARY! Beyonce who run the world Girls! Had to do this so they know. We run boxing too! Fastest boxer to become a 3x division world champ!”

https://twitter.com/Claressashields/status/1216064671830159360

According to reports, during her record breaking match, Shields landed 141 of 516 punches (27%) and her opponent, Habazin connected with just 49 of 285 (17%). Shields adds more on her victory by saying she’s looking forward to bringing more attention to women in boxing,

“I just want to become a better fighter. That’s all. I want to grow women’s boxing. I want to share a card with Deontay Wilder and Errol Spence. Andre Ward [who was ringside] said, ‘Sis, take her to the body.’ I was throwing all body shots in the first minute and then boom, she went down.”

Sheilds won Olympic middleweight gold at the age of 17 at London 2012 and retained her title four years later at the Rio Games. To add, in 2017 Shields became the first woman to headline a boxing show on a premium network in the United States.

Check out highlights from her victory below:

Congratulations to Claressa!