Claressa Shields took a dominant win against Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse on Saturday, July 27 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. The contest saw Flint’s three-division world champion challenging the newly crowned WBC heavyweight champion of Canada. The vacant WBO light heavyweight title was also on the line.
The scheduled for 10 rounds world championship bout, contested at 175 lbs, didn’t go the distance. Shields overwhelmed Joanisse dropping her three times with a big right hand in the second round. The referee waved the fight off to save the latter from further punishment.
Earlier in her career, Claressa Shields held world titles at super welterweight, middleweight and super middleweight, which includes a pair of the undisputed crowns at 160 lbs and 168 lbs. In addition to the victory, the 29-year-old two-time Olympic Gold Medalist improved her pro boxing record to 15-0, 3 KOs and remained undefeated.
Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse didn’t succeed in her first title defense, which was also her debut in the U.S. The 29-year-old native of Mont-Laurier, Quebec dropped to 7-2, 2 KOs, and got her four-fight winning streak snapped.
In the co-feature on the card, Miami-based Michel Rivera (25-1, 14 KOs) of the Dominican Republic defeated Hugo Alberto Roldan (22-2-1, 7 KOs) of Argentina by split decision, securing a knockdown a long the way. After 10 rounds at super lightweight, the scores were 99-90, 94-95 and 98-91.
Among other Shields vs Joanisse results, Julian Smith (9-2, 5 KOs) upset Detroit-based Shohjahon Ergashev (24-2, 21 KOs) of Uzbekistan. On his way to victory also by split decision, the junior welterweight of Country Club Hills, Illinois dropped the former world title challenger twice. The first knockdown on the bell was not counted. The second knockdown in the fifth round was official. The 10-round bout ended with the scores 94-95, 95-94 and 95-94.