Claressa Shields’ boxing skills are debatably surpassed only by her self-confidence, both of which she has come by the hard way. Her struggle for recognition as “the face of boxing” and “Greatest Woman of All Time” is a mountain she continues to scale despite having planted her own flag on that summit years ago.
That these truths, which to her are self-evident, are not universally accepted at face value is genuinely perplexing to Claressa, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-division undisputed world champion. And yet being denied such grandiose acknowledgement by the general public serves Shields as the sort of incentive with which another middleweight great, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, also fueled his engine.
It keeps her hunger burning, a reminder of the early days in the gym for the poor girl from Flint who had to dig deep to muster the strength to get through her workouts because she was nutritionally depleted from not having eaten for days. Now, money and decent meals are not a problem.
Getting other people—the ones who view her as little more than a brash shit-talker with a chip on her shoulder—to see what she sees, share her vision, and invest in her dream the way fans did with the equally cocky but ultimately beloved Muhammad Ali, this remains a problem for Claressa. Even after selling out the O2 Arena last October in her revenge win over Savannah Marshall on the Brit’s home soil, righting an amateur wrong and becoming undisputed champion at middleweight for the second time in the process.
After two consecutive outings in the UK, Shields returns this Saturday to her home state of Michigan, the 20,000-seat Little Caesars Arena in Detroit specifically. An immediate rematch with Savannah Marshall apparently wasn’t part of the plan, but a super fight against Natasha Jonas definitely was. At least until the brakes were reportedly slammed on the negotiations by Jonas’ unreasonable monetary demands.
Enter Hanna Gabriels. Or should I say re-enter, as Hanna and Claressa had crossed paths in Detroit five years ago. Gabriels is still the only woman, amateur or pro, to put Shields on her back pocket courtesy of a right uppercut that dislodged Claressa’s mouthpiece and produced a flash knockdown in the first round. Nonplussed, Claressa picked herself off the deck and outboxed Gabriels the rest of the way to earn a comfortable decision. A return bout between the two was signed, sealed, and delivered for June 3. But wait. The drama swirling around Shields’ potential opponents wasn’t over just yet.
This brings us to top-ranked contender and former world title challenger Maricela Cornejo who was originally scheduled for a June 6 bout at 154 pounds, but jumped at the chance to take the Shields fight on nine days’ notice when Gabriels was pulled off the bill due to failing a voluntary VADA drug test.
In an effort to clear her name and push back at accusations of being a “dirty fighter,” Hanna went public with her version of events which, long story short, amount to having Clostebol, the banned substance in question, enter her bloodstream through the medication she had been administering to her French bulldog which had just given birth. Gabriels says she was forthright about the details with VADA and declined the opportunity to take a second test after being told that she could face a three to five year ban for producing another positive result. As it stands now, she could already be sidelined for up to one year for failing the first test, pending the outcome of VADA’s investigation.
With more than a decade’s worth of experience competing in the prize ring but no amateur background to speak of, 36 year-old Maricela ‘La Diva’ Cornejo made her pro debut five days before Claressa Shields won her gold medal match at the 2012 Olympics. Four years later, Maricela was granted her first crack at a world championship in just her sixth fight, having compiled a 4-1 record and won the WBC International super-middleweight title along the way.
Shields, meanwhile, had already circled her date with destiny in Rio de Janeiro on her calendar thanks to running the gauntlet at the Pan American Olympic qualifying tournament four weeks earlier. Claressa, of course, became the first U.S. boxer of either gender to repeat as Olympic champion. As for Cornejo, she dropped a split decision to Kali Reis, who took home the vacant WBC middleweight title.
Primarily campaigning in the 168-pound division, Maricela subsequently embarked on an eight-fight win streak which led her to a second world title shot, this time against Franchon Crews Dezurn for the unclaimed WBC super-middleweight belt. Another frustrating loss for Cornejo resulted, with two judges giving Crews Dezurn a wide victory by matching margins of 99-91, whereas Patricia Morse Jarman scored the bout a draw.
One year later, all three judges were in agreement and Franchon retained her title while additionally claiming the vacant WBO strap in their rematch. By this time, Shields had already become undisputed at middleweight by dominating the previously undefeated WBC/WBO title holder, Christina Hammer.
For those keeping score at home, the 16-5 (6 KOs) Cornejo has been three times unlucky in world title fights. However, since the three-strikes-your-out rule applies to baseball and not to boxing, Maricela finds herself this Saturday the last-minute recipient of a fourth shot at championship glory. And undisputed status at that.
On a strictly by-the-number basis, it’s undeniable that Cornejo poses little threat to Claressa’s reign. But statistics do often tell only half the story when it comes to women’s boxing. Speaking of numbers, Cornejo has been referring to her newly revamped self as “Maricela 2.0” and promises that the upgrade will be clear for all to see come fight night. In front of her home crowd, Shields will obviously set out to short circuit Maricela 2.0 and add one more notch to her belt. Or belts, as it were.
One major component to Shields’ perceived credibility gap is the lack of quality opposition in her weight class relative to the deep talent pools from 105 pounds to 140 and every women’s division in between. Naturally, this is no fault of Claressa’s. With the exceptions of Cornejo (until Saturday, anyway) and Raquel Miller, she has basically wiped the mat with every meaningful contender and defending or former champion that the middleweight division has to offer.
But we all know it’s elite super fights which are the building blocks that establish a boxer’s lasting legacy. With notables like Natasha Jonas, Terri Harper, and Cecilia Braekhus now competing in adjacent weight classes, they represent a few of the more intriguing and realistic options that Shields has to entertain and, as mentioned earlier, she already tried unsuccessfully to corner Jonas.
People like to invoke the names of fellow undisputed champions Katie Taylor, Chantelle Cameron, and Jessica McCaskill but the more pragmatic boxing enthusiasts among us know that the weight differentials make any and all of these fights an impossibility.
Bar none, a rematch and undisputed vs. undisputed showdown with the winner of the July 1 bout between Franchon Crews Dezurn and Savannah Marshall is easily and logically the biggest fight out there for Claressa from both a money and legacy perspective.
But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s give Maricela Cornejo the benefit of the doubt that she will prove to be a worthy adversary and allow Claressa her moment to shine on her home turf before the largest American audience she will have fought in front of.
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