Claressa Shields
Claressa Maria Shields is an American professional boxer and former professional mixed martial artist. She has held 18 major world championships spanning five weight classes, including the undisputed female light middleweight title in March 2021; the undisputed female middleweight title twice between 2019 and 2024; the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation female super middleweight titles from 2017 to 2018; the World Boxing Organization female light heavyweight title from 2024 to 2025 and the undisputed female heavyweight title since February 2025. Shields currently holds the record for becoming a two, three, four and five division world champion in the fewest professional fights. As of August 12, 2025, she is ranked the world's best active female light heavyweight by BoxRec, as well as the best active female boxer, pound for pound, by ESPN and The Ring.
Shields is the only female boxer in history to have held all four major world titles—WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO—in three weight classes. She is also the third female boxer, after Amanda Serrano and Naoko Fujioka, to become a champion in five different divisions. The Boxing Writers Association of America named her Female Fighter of the Year in 2018 and 2022. In July 2024, ESPN ranked her as the best female boxer of the 21st century.
In a decorated amateur career, Shields won gold medals in the women's middleweight division at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, making her the first American boxer to win consecutive Olympic medals. Shields was the youngest boxer at the February 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, winning the event in the middleweight division. In May, she qualified for the 2012 Games, the first year in which women's boxing was an Olympic event, and went on to become the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing.
Shields was also a former professional mixed martial artist, competing in the Professional Fighters League.
Early life
Shields was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, where she was a high school junior in May 2012. She was introduced to boxing by her father, Bo Shields, who had boxed in underground leagues. Bo was in prison from the time Shields was two to nine years old. After his release, he talked to her about boxer Laila Ali, piquing her interest in the sport. Bo, however, believed that boxing was a men's sport and refused to allow Shields to pursue it until she was eleven. At that time she began boxing at Berston Field House in Flint, where she met her coach and trainer, Jason Crutchfield. Shields credits her grandmother with encouraging her to not accept restrictions based on her gender.Amateur career
2011–2013
After winning a couple of regional titles and two Junior Olympic Championships, Shields competed in her first open-division tournament, the National Police Athletic League Championships 2011; she won the middleweight title and was named top overall fighter and also qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials. At the 2012 Olympic Trials, she defeated the reigning national champion, Franchón Crews-Dezurn, the 2010 world champion, Andrecia Wasson, and Pittsburgh's Tika Hemingway to win the middleweight class. In April 2012, she won her weight class at the Women's Elite Continental Championships in Cornwall, Ontario against three-time defending world champion Mary Spencer of Canada; she held an undefeated record of 25 wins and 0 losses at that point.Following Shields' victory at the U.S. Olympic Trials, it was initially reported that she would need only a top-8 finish at the 2012 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships in Qinhuangdao, China, in order to qualify for the 2012 Olympics.
On May 10, the day after the contest began but before Shields' first bout, a change to the rules was announced that meant Shields would need to place in the top two from the American Boxing Confederation region of AIBA.
Shields won her first round but was beaten in the second round on May 13 to Savannah Marshall of England, bringing Shields' record to 26–1.
Her chances for qualification thus depended on Marshall's subsequent performance; after Marshall advanced to the middleweight finals on May 18, it was announced that Shields had earned an Olympic berth. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, aged 17, she won the gold medal in the women's middleweight division after beating veteran Russian boxer Nadezda Torlopova 19–12. This made her the first American woman to win a boxing gold medal.
In October 2012, she competed in her second National PAL Championships, beating Franchón Crews-Dezurn in the finals to win gold at middleweight in the open division.
At the 2013 IBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Bulgaria, Shields defeated polish boxer Elżbieta Wójcik to win gold in the middleweight class.
2014–2016
In 2014, Shields won gold at the U.S. National Championships in Spokane, Washington. In June 2014, she beat Yenebier Guillén in the finals of the Pan American Olympic Festival and took home gold at middleweight. In September, she defeated Canada's Ariane Fortin in the final round to win the middleweight title at the Elite Women's Continental Championships for the second time of her amateur boxing career. She picked up yet another gold medal at the World Championships in Jeju City, South Korea, and the following year, she became the first American to win titles in women's boxing at the Olympics and Pan American Games. As a result of her performance in the 2015 Pan American Games, she was given the honour of serving as Team USA's flag bearer at the closing ceremony.Shields defended her gold at the 2015 U.S. National Championships by defeating Raquel Miller in the finals.
Shields won the gold medal at the 2016 AMBC Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Argentina defeating Dominican Republic's Yenebier Guillén in her final bout on her 21st birthday. In May 2016, Shields defeated Nouchka Fontijn by unanimous decision to win gold at the World Championships. Later that year, at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, she won the gold medal in the women's middleweight division by again defeating Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands. She was awarded the inaugural women's division of the Val Barker Trophy at the competition. Her back-to-back Olympic gold medal wins made her the first American boxer to win consecutive Olympic titles.
Her amateur boxing record was 77 wins and 1 loss.
Professional boxing career
Early career
In November 2016, Shields officially went pro. She won her first match, against Franchón Crews-Dezurn, by unanimous decision.On March 10, 2017, she faced Szilvia Szabados for the North American Boxing Federation middleweight title, and won by TKO. This was the main event on ShoBox, with a regional title fight between Antonio Nieves and Nikolai Potapov serving as the co-main event. It was the first time a women's boxing bout was the main event on a United States premium network card.
On June 16, 2017, Shields headlined the "Detroit Brawl," facing Sydney LeBlanc in her first scheduled eight-round bout. LeBlanc signed on with three days notice, after Mery Rancier dropped out due to visa issues. Shields won the bout by decision after all eight rounds.