Claressa Shields made more history on home turf at Dort Financial Centre in Flint, Michigan, as she became undisputed world heavyweight champion with a lop-sided points win against Danielle Perkins.
Shields (16-0, 3 KOs) came in to the contest against Perkins as the WBC and WBF champion, and both the IBF and WBO put their vacant belts on the line here. The WBA don’t yet recognise heavyweight as a division in the female side of the sport.
Shields reigned supreme from super welterweight to middleweight, and then dabbled in MMA, but returned to boxing last July to win the WBC and WBF heavyweight titles, as well as taking the vacant WBO light heavyweight crown with a rare stoppage win, a second round halting of Vanessa Lapage-Joanisse in Detroit.
An amateur world champion, Perkins (5-1, 2 KOs) had never previously been past eight rounds or been near Shields’ level, and she was last out in July 2024 on the same bill as Shields, winning a six rounder on points against Christianne Fahey.
It was yet another fight that Shields largely dominated, and although Perkins began the contest in aggressive fashion, Shields landed with an eye-catching combination. Shields’ volume of punches were winning the day, and round three saw her rock Perkins with a big right hand. She then looked for the finish, but Perkins managed to survive the round. Perkins was brave and spirited, but all her work was being smothered by Shields, and she was constantly getting beaten to the punch.
Another massive right hand found the mark for Shields in the seventh, and after a quieter eighth, Perkins was once again stunned in round nine, but she enjoyed her best round of the fight as she let her hands go. Shields would put the exclamation mark on another dominant display in the final round, as Perkins went for broke, and it cost her, another big right hand this time dumping her on the canvas. With just seconds left, Perkins survived, and the fight went to the scorecards.
Scores of 100-89, 99-90 and 97-92 confirmed that Shields left with all of the belts.
Undercard recap
On the undercard, Brandon Moore (17-1, 10 KOs) claimed the vacant IBF USBA heavyweight title with a disqualification win in round eight against Skylar Lacy (8-1-2, KO6). Lacy was eventually thrown out for pushing Moore through the ropes, and had earlier lost two points for holding, with Moore also docked a point in what was a scrappy affair.
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In eight round attractions, welterweight hope Joseph Hicks (12-0, 8 KOs) impressed, scoring a seventh round stoppage win over fellow unbeaten Keon Papillion (10-1-1, 7 KOs), and at middleweight, Leon Lawson III (17-1, 10 KOs) was another early winner, taking a fourth round stoppage success against Christopher Thompson (9-3, 6 KOs).
At lightweight, Joshua James Pagan (12-0, 4 KOs) was a points winner against Ronal Ron (16-8, 13 KOs), winning by two scores of 78-74, and a third at 79-73, and Samantha Worthington (11-0, 7 KOs) took a competitive points win over Vaida Masiokaite (10-27-6, 1 KO) at super lightweight.
Caroline Veyre (9-1, 0 KOs) took all eight rounds in her featherweight showdown with Carmen Vargas (5-3-1, 0 KOs)
In six rounders, heavyweight novice Pryce Taylor (6-0, KO4) took a second round stoppage win against Jerell Nettles (4-11, KO1), and debutant Ashleyann Lozada (1-0, 0 KOs came through on points against Denise Moran (3-1, KO0) at super bantamweight.
