Claressa Shields claimed a dominant win against Danielle Perkins on February 2 at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, MI. Battling in front of her hometown crowd, the five-division world champion lifted the undisputed crown in her third weight class.
Shields put her WBC heavyweight title on the line, making the first defense of the +168 lbs belt. In addition, the vacant IBF and WBO +200 lbs straps were up for grabs.
The scheduled 10-round bout went the full distance. The local favorite defeated the contender from Brooklyn, NY by unanimous decision.
Shields hurt Perkins in the third round. After Perkins tripped and fell on the canvas, referee Benjamin Rodriguez helped her back to her feet, and there was no eight-count. In the final moments of the fight, Shields caught and dropped Perkins with a big overhand right. The scores were 100-89, 99-90, and 97-92.
With the victory, Claressa Shields improved to 16-0, 3 KOs, retained her WBC title, and claimed the IBF and WBO belts. The 29-year-old became a three-division undisputed champion, having previously held titles at middleweight and super welterweight. The WBA does not currently award championships in women’s heavyweight.
Making her first attempt to become champion, Danielle Perkins didn’t succeed in pulling off an upset. The Houston, Texas-based 42-year-old dropped to 5-1, 2 KOs, and suffered her first defeat.
“I feel overwhelmed, I feel so happy,” Shields said post-fight. “Shoutout to my opponent, Danielle Perkins. That girl was strong as hell.”
“The fight was at 180 lbs, when I thought it was 175 lbs. I had to cut a little bit of weight, and she didn’t have to. So I knew she would be a little bit stronger than I thought. But I knew I could get the job done, and I did.”
“I was a better boxer. I dropped her. To me, I dropped her twice, to be honest.”
“I want to fight two more times this year. I want to fight against Franchon Crews-Dezurn. I want to rematch with Hanna Gabriels. I want to bring Savannah Marshall to the USA and tap that a** again. And it’s always on the table if Cris Cyborg or Laila Ali want to fight.”
In Shields vs Perkins undercard action
The heavyweight co-main event bout between Brandon Moore (17-1, 10 KOs) of Lakeland, FL and Skylar Lacy (8-1, 6 KOs) of Indianapolis, IN, ended in a disqualification of the latter. Referee Steve Willis finally called it a day after Lacy pushed Moore through the ropes, causing both fighters to fall onto the ringside table.
Each fighter was also deducted a point for holding in the third round, and Lacy lost another point in the fourth. In the third round, the fighters knocked a cameraman down. The official time was 51 seconds into the eighth round.
Among other Shields vs Perkins results, Joseph Hicks (12-0, 8 KOs) of Grand Rapids, MI, stopped Keon Papillion (10-1-1, 7 KOs) of Lafayette, LA in the seventh round at welterweight. Joshua Pagan (12-0, 4 KOs) of Grand Rapids, MI earned a unanimous decision against Ronal Ron (16-8, 13 KOs) of Venezuela in an eight-rounder at lightweight.
French-born, Montreal-based Caroline Veyre (9-1) scored a unanimous decision against Houston’s Carmen Vargas (5-3-1) at featherweight. Puerto Rico’s Ashleyann Lozada (1-0) defeated Denise Moran (3-1) of Riverside, CA by unanimous decision at super bantamweight.
Plus, local Leon Lawson III (17-1, 10 KOs) stopped Christopher Thompson (9-3, 6 KOs) of Kansas City, MO in the fourth round at middleweight. Lexington, KY-based Samantha Worthington (11-0, 7 KOs) defeated Vaida Masiokaite (10-27-6, 1 KOs) of Lithuania by unanimous decision at super lightweight. Brooklyn-based Pryce Taylor (6-0, 4 KOs) TKO’d Denver’s Jerell Nettles (4-11, 1 KOs) in the second round at heavyweight.