Claressa Shields cannot achieve more than she has.
Two Olympic gold medals. World titles in two divisions. Professional record 13-0, 10-0 in championship games. One of the two or three faces of female boxing. She was one of the best people to ever do it.
Only one thing is missing: the knockout. Only two of her wins have come by stoppage, winning then coming in her fourth match in 2017.
That continues to preoccupy Shields as she prepares to face Hanna Gabriels in a rematch on June 3 at Little Ceasars Arena in Detroit.
And it serves as motivation. Boxing Junkie asked her if it was difficult to get up for her fights as she overwhelmed everyone she faced as a pro.
“No, it’s not,” she said. “If I eliminate these girls in the first or second round, it will be very difficult to bounce back. I went 10 rounds and dominated and in my head… why can’t I beat her? So for me that’s what keeps me going.”
The question is: What will get her disqualified?
Two-minute rounds in women’s boxing didn’t help. Women don’t have much time to take down their opponents. And, apparently, some boxers simply have more punches than others.
Shields thinks KO will come if she does the right things.
“We have to figure out how to take these girls down,” she said. “I already dominated them. So the next level is to KO them. I feel like all these men are out [against inferior opposition] early in their careers.
“I just had tough challenges, girls with more experience, girls stronger than me. … I finally caught up with them in terms of experience. I feel more comfortable sitting down on my punches.
“We want quality over quantity, deepening the body, good head movement, counter-attacking, explosive. Now we’re going into that. I won by pure talent.”
She got a little more momentum against Gabriels (21-2-1, 12 KOs).
The Costa Rican is the only opponent to have ever put Shields on the frame, turning the tide in the first round of their 2018 fight. In the end, Shields won in an extensive deciding bout, proving that she was the superior boxer despite the early blunder.
However, Gabriels, now 40, clearly believes he has the ability to turn the tide in the rematch. For her part, Shields took her down years ago.
“It made me sad that night because it happened,” he said. “That’s it. I don’t think about being knocked out five years later like she does. Did you do anything else? You lost. That’s what everyone else did inside the ring to me, loser.
Indeed, if stopping fighting early is a problem for Shields, victory certainly isn’t. She hasn’t lost a match since Savannah Marshall overtook her when she was a 17-year-old amateur in 2012.
And victory replaces everything else. It would be nice to get to the finish line early once in a while.
“Honestly, I just ‘want’ to keep winning, keep getting better, knock these girls down, keep getting faster and stronger, and keep having a great career,” Shields said. speak. “There is always someone coming up, wanting to win the world title.
“I just want to be ready to face them and fight with all my might. That’s all I can do right now.”
