Claressa Shields

Claressa Shields
Shields with her Olympic gold medal in 2012
Born	Claressa Maria Shields[1] (1995-03-17) March 17, 1995 Flint, Michigan, U.S.
Other names	T-Rex
Residence	Flint, Michigan, U.S.
Nationality	American
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)[2]
Division	Middleweight Super middleweight
Reach	68 in (173 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
Trainer	Jason Crutchfield
Years active	2016–present
Professional boxing record
Total	4
Wins	4
By knockout	2
Losses	0
Amateur record
Total	79
Wins	78
By knockout	19
Losses	1
Other information
Boxing record from BoxRec
Medal record Olympic Games 2012 London Middleweight 2016 Rio de Janeiro Middleweight World Championships 2014 Jeju Middleweight 2016 Astana Middleweight Pan American Games 2015 Toronto Light heavyweight

Claressa Maria Shields (born March 17, 1995)^[2] is an American professional boxer who has held the unified WBC and IBF female super middleweight titles since August 2017.

As an amateur she won a gold medal in the women's middleweight division at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, making her the first American boxer—female or male—to win consecutive Olympic medals.^[3] Shields was the youngest boxer at the February 2012 U.S. Olympic trials, winning the event in the 165 lb (75 kg) middleweight division.^[4][5][6] In May, she qualified for the 2012 Olympics, the first year in which women's boxing was an Olympic event,^[7] and went to become the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing.^[8]

Early life

Shields was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, where she was a high school junior in May 2012.^[4][5] She was introduced to boxing by her father, Bo Shields, who had boxed in underground leagues.^[5][9] Bo was in prison from the time Shields was two years old, and released when she was nine. After his release he talked to her about boxer Laila Ali, piquing her interest in the sport,^[10] although Bo nevertheless believed that boxing was a men's sport and refused to allow Shields to pursue it until she was eleven.^[5][9][11] At that time she began boxing at Berston Field House in Flint, where she met her coach and trainer, Jason Crutchfield.^[9] Shields credits her grandmother with encouraging her to not accept restrictions based on her gender.^[5]

Amateur career

Shields (left) vs. Yenebier Guillén Benítez, 2015

After winning two Junior Olympic championships Shields competed in her first open-division tournament, the National Police Athletic League Championships 2011; she won the middleweight title and was named top overall fighter as well as qualifying for the U.S. Olympic trials.^[2][12] At the trials in she defeated the reigning national champion, Franchon Crews, the 2010 world champion, Andrecia Wasson, and Pittsburgh's Tika Hemingway to win the middleweight class.^[2][5] In April 2011, she won her weight class at the Women's Elite Continental Championships in Cornwall, Ontario against three-time defending world champion Mary Spencer of Canada; she held an undefeated record of 25 wins and 0 losses at that point.^[5][9][13]

Following Shields' victory at the U.S. Olympic trials, it was initially reported that she would need only a top-8 finish at the 2012 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships in Qinhuangdao, China, in order to qualify for the 2012 Olympics.^[6] On May 10, the day after the contest began but before Shields' first bout, a change to the rules was announced that meant Shields would need to place in the top two from the (North, Central, and South) American Boxing Confederation region of AIBA (AMBC).^[14] Shields won her first round, but suffered an upset loss in the second round on May 13 to Savannah Marshall of England, bringing Shields' record to 26-1.^[15] Her chances for qualification thus depended on Marshall's subsequent performance; after Marshall advanced to the middleweight finals on May 18, it was announced that Shields had earned an Olympic berth. She won a gold medal in the end, after beating Russian boxer Nadezda Torlopova 19–12.^[7][16]

In 2014, Shields won the World Championships^[17] and the following year, she became the first American to win titles in women's boxing at the Olympics and Pan American games.^[18] Shields won gold at the 2016 AMBC Olympic Qualifying tournament in Argentina.^[19] Later that year, she won the gold at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics by defeating Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands, the only American gold medalist in the team, and awarded the inaugural women's division of the Val Barker Trophy at the competition.^[20]

Her amateur boxing record was 78 wins (19 by knockout^[15][21][22]) and 1 loss.^[23][24]

Professional career

In November 2016, Shields officially went pro. She won her first match, against Franchon Crews, by unanimous decision.^[25]

On March 10, 2017 she faced Szilvia Szabados for the North American Boxing Federation middleweight title, and won. This was the main event on ShoBox, with a regional title fight between Antonio Nieves and Nikolai Potapov serving as the co-main event.^[26] It was the first time a women's boxing bout was the main event on a United States premium network card.^[27][28]

On June 16, 2017, Shields headlined the "Detroit Brawl," facing Sydney LeBlanc in her first scheduled eight-round bout. LeBlanc signed on with three days notice, after Mery Rancier dropped out due to visa issues.^[29][30] Shields won the bout by decision after all eight rounds.^[31]

On August 4, 2017, Shields will face Nikki Adler in Detroit for the World Boxing Council super-middleweight belt and the International Boxing Federation super-middleweight belt. The fight will be on Showtime.^[32]

Personal life

While growing up in Flint, Michigan, Shields was sexually abused by her mother's boyfriends. Shields was baptized at age 13 (two years after she began boxing) and began attending a local church. She found strength in her Christian faith and eventually left home. Now Shields prays before every fight, talks about God's plan for her life, and says, "All glory to God."^[33]

Shields attempted to adopt her cousin's daughter in 2014.^[34]

Shields is an ambassador for Up2Us Sports, a national non-profit organization dedicated to supporting underserved youth by providing them with coaches trained in positive youth development.^[35]

Filmography

Shields is the subject of the 2015 documentary "T-Rex: Her Fight for Gold."^[36][37] In 2016 Universal Pictures, a division of Comcast, which holds Olympic broadcast rights in the United States, acquired the rights to produce a film about her life story.^[38] Barry Jenkins is the screenwriter.^[39]

Shields will be acting in the Susan Seidelman-directed film Punch Me.^[40]

Awards

In 2017, Shields won the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Sports Award for "Biggest Powerhouse." ^[41]

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
4	Win	4–0	Nikki Adler	TKO	5 (10), 1:34	Aug 4, 2017	MGM Grand, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.	Won WBC and vacant IBF female super middleweight titles
3	Win	3–0	Sydney LeBlanc	UD	8	Jun 16, 2017	Masonic Temple, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.	Won vacant WBC Silver female super middleweight title
2	Win	2–0	Szilvia Szabados	TKO	4 (6), 1:30	Mar 10, 2017	MGM Grand, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.	Won vacant NABF female middleweight title; First women's headline bout on Showtime
1	Win	1–0	Franchon Crews	UD	4	Nov 19, 2016	T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.	Professional debut

References

Further reading

• Levy, Ariel (May 7, 2012). "A Ring of One’s Own". The New Yorker. New York: Condé Nast. 

External links

• Professional boxing record for Claressa Shields from BoxRec
• Claressa Shields profile at TeamUSA
• America's Boxing Women Aim for the Olympics at The New York Times
• T-Rex: Her Fight for Gold on IMDb

2016 USA Olympic Boxing Team
Men's athletes	Nico Hernández Shakur Stevenson Carlos Balderas Charles Conwell
Women's athletes	Mikaela Mayer Claressa Shields
Coaches	Billy Walsh

2012 USA Olympic Boxing Team
Men's athletes	Rau'shee Warren Joseph Diaz Jose Ramírez Jamel Herring Errol Spence Terrell Gausha Marcus Browne Michael Hunter Dominic Breazeale
Women's athletes	Marlen Esparza Quanitta Underwood Claressa Shields
Coaches	—