Claressa Maria Shields, popularly known as Claressa Shields is an American professional boxer and mixed martial artist. Considered the world’s best active female light middleweight fighter, Shields is the record holder of becoming a two of three-weight world champion in the fewest professional fights. She is the only boxer in history to hold all four major world titles. She also won gold medals in the women’s middleweight division in two Olympics, becoming the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing.
What is Claressa Shields Famous For?
- Became undisputed women’s middleweight world champion, unifying the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO middleweight titles in April 2019.
- The first world champion boxer in the four-belt era to hold undisputed titles in two different weight divisions.
Where is Claressa Shields From?
Claressa Shields was born on 17 March 1995. Her birth name is Claressa Maria Shields. Her birth place is in Flint, Michigan in the United States. She holds an American nationality. She was born to her father, Bo Shields, and her mother, Marcella Adams. Her home town is Flint, Michigan. She has three siblings, Briana Shields, Dusable Lewis, and Artis Mack. She belongs to the African-American ethnicity and her religion is Christianity. She was baptized at the age of 13. Her zodiac sign is Pisces.
Source: @townsquare
Claressa Shields Career
- Claressa Shields was introduced to boxing by her father. Her father boxed in underground leagues.
- Her father initially refused Shields to pursue boxing who later allowed her when she was 11 years old.
- She began training under Jason Crutchfield at Berston Field House in Flint.
- She won two Junior Olympic championships leading her to compete in her first open-division tournament, the National Police Athletic League Championships in 2011.
- She won the middleweight title. She was named the top overall fighter.
- She defeated the reigning national champion, Franchon Crews-Dezurn, the 2010 world champion, Andrecia Wasson, and Pittsburgh’s Tika Hemingway at the 2012 Olympic Trials and won the middleweight class.
- She won her weight class at the Women’s Elite Continental Championships in Cornwall, Ontario in 2011. She defeated three-time defending world champion, Mary Spencer.
- She won the gold medal in the women’s middleweight division at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She defeated Russian boxer Nadezda Torlopova in the final.
- She won the World Championship gold medal in 2014 and the Pan American Games gold medal in 2015.
- She won the gold medal at the 2016 AMBC Olympic Qualifying tournament. She eventually won the gold medal in the women’s middleweight division at the 2016 Olympics.
- She was awarded the inaugural women’s division of the Val Barker Trophy.
- She won the World Championship gold medal in 2016.
- She recorded an amateur boxing record of 77 wins and 1 loss.
- Shields turned professional in November 2016.
- She won her first professional bout defeating Franchon Crews-Dezurn.
- She defeated Szilvia Szabados to win the American Boxing Federation middleweight title in March 2017.
- She defeated Sydney LeBlanc via decision in June 2017.
- She defeated defending champion Nikki Adler to win the WBC super-middleweight title and the vacant IBF super-middleweight title in August 2017.
- She won the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Sports Award for “Biggest Powerhouse” in 2017.
- She retained her WBC and IBF female super middleweight titles and also won the WBAN super-middleweight title defeating Tori Nelson in January 2018. It was her first time going all 10 rounds in her professional career.
- She started training under coach John David Jackson.
Source: @claressagwoatshields
- She won the vacant WBA and inaugural IBF middleweight titles defeating Hanna Gabriel in June 2018. She faced the first knockdown of her professional career during Round 1.
- She was inducted into the USA Boxing Alumni Association’s Hall of Fame in 2018.
- The Boxing Writers Association of America gave her the 2018 Christy Martin Award – Female Fighter of the Year.
- She became undisputed women’s middleweight world champion, unifying the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO middleweight titles, along with The Ring magazine’s inaugural middleweight title in April 2019. She defeated Christina Hammer by unanimous decision.
- She defeated Ivana Habazin to win the vacant WBO junior middleweight title in January 2020, becoming the fastest ever to win titles in 3 divisions male or female in history.
- She defeated Marie-Eve Dicaire to retain her WBC and WBO super welterweight titles, claim IBF 154-pound belt, and vacant WBA light-middleweight strap in March 2021.
- Along with her boxing career, she started her MMA career in 2020.
- She signed a three-year contract with Professional Fighters League in November 2020.
- She started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. She trained under IBJJF no-gi World Champion Roberto Alencar.
- She started training at JacksonWink MMA in late 2020.
- She made her MMA debut at PFL 4 in June 2021. She made her debut against Brittney Elkin and won via TKO in round three.
- She lost against Abigail Montes via a split decision at PFL 10 on 27 October 2021. It was the only second MMA fight of her career.
Source: @twitter
Who is Claressa Shields Boyfriend?
Claressa Shields is not married. However, she is not single. She is currently in a relationship with gym owner, Tony Richardson. He is an ISSA-certified fitness trainer and the owner of AT Fitness Gym. It is not clear when they started dating but they went public about their relationship in November 2020.
How Tall is Claressa Shields?
Claressa Shields stands at the height of 1.73 m i.e. 5 feet and 8 inches tall. She has a body weight of 155 lbs i.e. 70 kg. She has a reach of 68 inches. She has an athletic body build. Her eye color is dark brown and her hair color is black. Her sexual orientation is straight.
What is Claressa Shields Net Worth?
Claressa Shields is one of the most successful boxers. In a fewer fight, she had won numerous titles in numerous weight divisions and set several records. She makes a good income from her fights. Her income comes from contracts, wins, sponsorships and endorsements. She is also an MMA fighter, currently signed to Professional Fighters League. She appeared in a Walmart ad in 2018. She has an endorsement deal with BOSE. Summing up, she makes her income from her fighting career. At present, her net worth is estimated at around $4 million.
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