Claressa Shields retained her undisputed heavyweight world championship with a unanimous resolution win over Lani Daniels in Detroit.
The 30-year-old Shields, a two-time Olympic champion, multi-weight world champion and the primary undisputed heavyweight world champion in girls’s boxing, improved to 17-0 in entrance of 15,366 followers at Little Caesars Area.
The 36-year-old Daniels, the IBF light-heavyweight titlist, dropped to 11-3-2, ending a run of seven consecutive victories.
Daniels moved alongside the ropes for 2 rounds to steer clear of Shields, who was affected person till unleashing a flurry of mixtures late in each.
Daniels didn’t run subsequently – and Shields took benefit with punishing blows to the physique and head. The American took the victory on all three scorecards 100-90 and 99-91 twice.
Daniels was boxing for the primary time outdoors of her native New Zealand and was not welcomed within the Motor Metropolis, the place Shields is a fan favourite.
Shields, elected to the Michigan Sports activities Corridor of Fame on Friday, has revived big-time boxing in Detroit.
Town with a wealthy historical past within the sport that features Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson and Thomas Hearns went a long time with out related fights.
The Crimson Wings and Pistons moved into Little Caesars Area in 2017, however the area did not have a boxing card till 2023 when Shields was the headliner and beat Maricela Cornejo.
Shields was again at Little Caesars Area final summer time, knocking out WBC heavyweight champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse in entrance of about 12,000 followers – and he or she drew an even bigger crowd for her newest combat.
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Heavyweight world champion Claressa Shields discusses a possible future bout with welterweight world champion Lauren Worth and what weights both of them must leap to.
Shields received middleweight gold medals on the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, making her the primary boxer from america to win consecutive Olympic medals. Professionally, she has earned titles in 5 divisions from 154 to 200lbs.
Her staff has made a suggestion to Muhammad Ali’s daughter Laila Ali to return out of retirement and field Shields for her heavyweight titles.
Protect’s promoter Dmitry Salita instructed Sky Sports activities: “A women’s undisputed heavyweight championship bout between these two icons has the potential to be the fight of the century in this new millennium.”
Zayas wins first title
Rising star Xander Zayas has change into a world champion. On the Madison Sq. Backyard Theater in New York Zayas dominated Mexico’s Jorge Garcia by unanimous resolution (116-112, 118-110, and 119-109) to win the WBO super-welterweight belt.
“This is a dream come true. This is beautiful. To see my Puerto Rican fans here, this is amazing. I could never dream of anything better than this,” Zayas stated.
Zayas lands a backhand on Garcia (Photograph: Mikey Williams/Prime Rank)
On the invoice Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington captured the WBC interim featherweight title with a lopsided unanimous resolution (119-109 twice and 120-108) in opposition to Namibian contender Mateus Heita.
“I’m ready. I’ve been calling out all the champions. They already know. I see [Rafael] Espinoza in the crowd. I want to fight him. I want to fight Nick Ball. I want to fight Stephen Fulton,” Carrington stated.
Additionally on the invoice 21-year-old super-lightweight phenom Emiliano Fernando Vargas blitzed Ecuador’s Alexander Espinoza with a first-round knockout.
