Claressa Shields Wins Heavyweight Title With Second-Round Stoppage

Before Saturday night, Claressa Shields (15-0, 3 KOs) hadn’t scored a knockout in seven years. But, in front of a raucous home state crowd at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan, the Flint native closed her show with, perhaps, the biggest bang of her career thus far.

The multi-division world champ would drop defending heavyweight titlist Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse (7-2, 2 KOs) three times en route to winning the women’s WBC heavyweight title and WBO light heavyweight title (there’s a discrepancy in the way the two sanctioning bodies define their weight classes. In this particular case, the bout was contested at the 175 lb. limit).

Even in a cautious first round, one could immediately see the difference in class between the two fighters. Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a three-division world champ coming into the contest, was able to touch Quebec’s Lepage-Joanisse at will. By the end of the opening round, Shields was already getting to the champ and getting nothing back in return.

Early in the second, a hard right dropped the overmatched Lepage-Joanisse. Seconds later, she was dropped again, all while her chief second was trying to stop the bout, even stepping up on to the canvas to do so. Referee Ben Rodriguez, however, let the fight play out to completion and would wave off the contest at the 1:09 mark, following a third knockdown.

With the victory, Shields became a four-division world champ, adding to her legitimate legacy as the most decorated female fighter of all time.

“I shocked myself, I’m not gonna lie,” Shields told DAZN’s Al Bernstein after the fight. “I went in there real slow in the first round. I’m no dummy. Vanessa is a heavyweight and she was punching.

“When the hook hit her, I was like damn. I knew I was strong in camp, and I was super strong. Maybe I can stay at heavyweight.”

If the goal is to stay at heavyweight, though, Shields may need to import challengers from lower weights, such as 168 lb. champ Franchon Crews Dezurn and former champ at 168, Shadasia Green.

The women’s heavyweight division has an extremely shallow talent pool, with only 21 fighters, worldwide, ranked by BoxRec. Coming into Saturday’s bout, that pool of fighters, Lepage-Joanisse included, sported a meager combined record of 48-41-4. The defending champ was, by far, the most qualified challenger for a fighter with Shield’ credentials and, as everyone saw, the pairing was a clear mismatch.

Ultimately, however, Shields has no control over how much talent exists at the highest levels of women’s boxing. She’s just doing her job– taking on challenges and picking up wins, with just a smattering of lost rounds over the course of her 15-fight career.