Claressa Shields

Claressa Shields Makes HERstory

It was the performance that everyone was expecting as Claressa Shields (10-0, 2 KOs) dominated Ivana Habazin (20-4, 7 KOs) at the Ocean Resort Casino in Atlantic City.

Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing

It was the performance that everyone was expecting as Claressa Shields (10-0, 2 KOs) dominated Ivana Habazin (20-4, 7 KOs) at the Ocean Resort Casino in Atlantic City. 

This contest between these two women has been a long time coming. It was mid 2019 that they were originally scheduled to meet, but a dislocated knee forced Shields to pull out of the contest.

Just a few months later it seemed as though everything was good to go. However, due to an unfortunate riot at the weigh ins which caused a serious injury to the trainer of Habazin, the fight was canceled. 

Fast forward to January 2020, and there were no more distractions. 

Shields came into this bout screaming her typical G.W.O.A.T (greatest woman of all time) talk. Habazin on the other hand would hear nothing of it as she believed Shields was all hype. Both women were of the belief that this contest would not go the distance. 

When the bout began, Shields was ridiculously confident, pinning her back to the ropes and inviting Habazin in. She obliged but couldn’t land a single shot. Much of the contest went the same way. Habazin pressed the action but couldn’t do anything with Shields. 

Something interesting happened during the build up of this contest. Shields told everyone who would listen that this contest would not go past six rounds.

Although she was dominating, Habazin did not appear to be in any trouble. Yet, in the sixth round, it seemed as though Shields remembered the promise that she gave everyone. 

The undefeated two time gold medalist really put the pressure on Habazin during the round. Thanks to a well placed body shot, Habazin went down like a ton of bricks. When she rose to her feet, she clutched her midsection as if to say she could hardly breath. She escaped the round, but barely. 

The duration of the contest saw Habazin play it safe. She consistently held Shields and mostly fought to survive.

When the final bell rang, Shields, unsurprisingly, was announced the winner. The final scores of the contest were 100-89, 100-90 and 99-89 all in favor of Shields. 

Final Grade For Shields: A+

No-one was expecting a competitive contest but the one sided nature of it was beyond impressive. 

The win against Habazin gifted Shields with the vacant WBC and WBO Jr Middleweight title. With this being just the tenth fight for Shields in her career, she became the fastest boxer regardless of gender to win titles in three separate weight divisions. 

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