Latino Sports will continue to shine light on the power, resilience, and heart of unstoppable women around the globe this March throughout Women’s History Month
NEW YORK, NY — Claressa ‘The GWOAT’ (Greatest Woman of All Time) Shields was born on March 17, 1995, which means her 30th birthday passed just over a week ago. The undisputed status and resilience that she has successfully throned was stemmed through her hard work ethic. She holds the record of five division world championships (16-0, 3 KOs). Many fear her but most look up to her. Flint, Michigan’s Shields turned pro in November 2021 and conquered an exciting progression ever since then. Continuous history in the making and grit in the results, an unstoppable combo.
Let’s take a step back into a memory lane of The GWOAT’s last five fights:
1. Danielle Perkins
Date: February 2, 2025
Location: Dort Financial Center, Flint, Michigan
At stake: Shields’ WBC Heavyweight, the vacant WBA Heavyweight, WBO Light Heavyweight Championships (Undisputed Title Fight)
Records at the time: Shields – 15-0, 3 KOs | Perkins – 5-0, 2 KOs
Result: Shields, UD (97-92, 99-90, and 100-89)
Significance: With Shields making her hometown appearance, fierce was all she knew to hold at a high-standard in regards to her performance. Unshockingly, she remained undefeated at the end and excitement was shown all over her face. The Ring’s “P4P” Queen raised all the way to the top by outpunching Danielle Perkins in the very early rounds. Perkins, who was slightly bigger than Shields did her best but was out of luck in the 10th round, where she was dropped to the canvas, with just 20 seconds left.
You’d think ‘The GWOAT’ would be very confident, as she should, especially with all of the achievements she has thrived with by the support of her team, but she goes through some of the things that us people go through too on a daily basis, whether it’s mentally or physically, but this wasn’t just a walk in the park type of fight for her.
“I had a really hard training camp and just last Friday, I tore a ligament in my left shoulder. I wasn’t able to do just my good jab. But I asked God to keep delivering me big fights in my hometown so I went through with it.” Shields told DAZN’s Claudia Trejos.
2. Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse
Date: July 27, 2024
Location: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
At stake: Shields’ Heavyweight, WBF Heavyweight, and the vacant WBO Light Heavyweight Championships
Records at the time: Shields – 14-0 (2 KOs) | Lepage-Joanisse – 7-1 (2 KOs)
Result: Shields, KO Round 2
Significance: From the very first time the bell rang, it was evident Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse was going to go through a rude awakening trying to battle Shields. The heart that Lepage-Joanisse showed was like none other as she tried to hold her stance but failed on command. No one can really say they fought Shields, only a few, and Lepage-Joanisse was one of them in the list. Shields was just the stronger and more skillful fighter. She threw explosive power punches that stunned Lepage-Joanisse and knocked her down three times before the demolishing KO in round 2.
Shields told DAZN, “I shocked myself and I put her down three times, so ‘The GWOAT’ stays.”
3. Maricela Cornejo
Date: June 4, 2023
Location: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
At stake: Shields’ IBF, WBC, WBF, and WBO Middleweight Championships
Records at the time: Shields – 13-0 (2 KOs) | Cornejo – 16-5 (6 KOs)
Result: Shields, UD (100-89, 100-90, and 100-90)
Significance: The dominant performance that Shields showed was the epic skillful bombs that the fans in attendance all needed. Maricela Cornejo was not close to trying to win the fight even though she was highly prepared from the camp training towards staying in weight. Shields made it look like it was bag work and the laser-focused attention was deadly. But that doesn’t mean Cornejo wasn’t a tough opponent because she was. The judges even thought so…
“It was like I could land most of my shots but some of them were curving that landed pretty good also. But straight rights were money and when I would hit her and hurt her, she would just take off.” Shields told ESPN.
4. Savannah Marshall
Date: October 15, 2022
Location: The O2 Arena, Greenwich, United Kingdom
Image Credit: Mark Robinson/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images
At stake: Shields’ IBF, WBC, and WBO Middleweight Championships
Records at the time: Shields – 12-0 (2 KOs) | Cornejo –
Result: Shields, UD (97-93, 96-94, and 97-93)
Significance: Shields made history on this day as she won the undisputed crown for the second time, after equipping herself with all of the four belts in both 2019 and 2020. Savannah Marshall, nicknamed “The Silent Assassin,” from the UK, improved came in with the smoke in the middle of the rounds, despite Shields’ boxing status. But the overpowering Shields was focused on her vision of slaughterness. Many fans believed this fight was a close one but the judges gave it all to Shields.
“She’s a tough competitor. She’s a hard puncher. She has endurance. But I’m the better fighter, 10 years later.” Shields informed ESPN’s correspondent.
5. Ema Kozin
Date: February 5, 2022
Location: Cardiff International Arena, Cardiff, United Kingdom
Image Credit: DAZN
At stake: Shields’ IBF and WBC Middleweight Championships
Records at the time: Shields – 11-0 (2 KOs) | Kozin – 21-0-1 (11 KOs)
Result: Shields, UD (100-90, 100-90, and 100-90)
Significance: In front of Shields’ future skilled tester, Marshall, she was able to get an impressive win over Ema Kozin. “If you perform like that against me, I’ll absolutely wipe the floor with you,” said Marshall, unmoved and unimpressed. Calmness was Shields’ ammunition in this fight and she was able to control it for 12 rounds to break Kozin’s perfect record. Even in round 2, she left little to no space for Kozin to sneak a few strong attacks. But it was in round 5 where Shields focused on the body and Kozin was in trouble, because after that, multiple rounds of blows skyrocketed.
“I came out to move… I wanted Ema to get out of the way because the girl that I want is Savannah Marshall.” Shields told the media.
The GWOAT has been very active in the sport and her skills just keep elevating to prosperous results as she continues to become one of the biggest threats in women empowerment inside and outside of boxing.
Who would you fight fans want to see her go toe-to-toe with next?
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