Two Olympic gold medals. World championships in five weight divisions. The unofficial title as best pound-for-pound fighter in women’s boxing.
Claressa Shields (15-0, 3 KOs) seemingly has it all, yet still has something to prove during her undisputed heavyweight title fight Sunday against Danielle Perkins (5-0, 2 KOs).
Despite all of the accolades, Shields has yet to demonstrate consistent knockout power. She ended her last fight by TKO, but only after a stretch of almost seven years without a knockout. Now, Shields told USA TODAY Sports, her move up to the heavyweight division will unveil something new.
“I’m way more comfortable fighting at heavyweight than I am at 154 pounds,’’ said Shields, who dropped down in weight after starting her pro career as a super middleweight at 168 pounds. “I always felt very, very strong there (at 168 pounds). Even though I wasn’t getting the knockouts, I was still beating girls up pretty bad. … But I’ve seen a huge difference in my power from when I fought at 154 and now that I’m fighting at heavyweight.’’
Heading into the bout, Shields is a big favorite for obvious reasons.
Perkins is 42, more than a decade older than Shields, 29. She’s also far less experienced. But, she’s won two of her five pro fights by knockout, and at 6-foot she’ll have a significant size advantage.
In addition to being four inches taller than the 5-foot-8 Shields, Perkins also fought at more than 195 pounds three times. By contrast, Shields has never fought at more that 175 pounds, the weight at which she won the WBC and WBF world heavyweight belts in July with a second-round TKO of Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse.
Height served Perkins well on the basketball court. From 2003 to 2006, she played at St. John’s, where she led the team in blocks during the 2004-05 season and led the team in rebounds the following season.
But on Sunday she’ll be tangling with Shields in the boxing ring, not on the basketball court.
“I may put Danielle on her back pockets,’’ Shields said.
Claressa Shields’ purse and bonus
Shields said her purse for the fight will be $1.5 million, and there will be a non-monetary bonus. The event will be held in her hometown of Flint, Michigan. “Fire Inside,’’ a movie released in December about Shields’ life and boxing career, showed how her upbringing in the gritty town shaped her as a boxer.
“Oh, man,’’ Shields said. “Being born and raised in Flint, Michigan, is just something that it instilled a lot of hardcore-ness in me. Not just physically, but also mentally.
“I think that Flint has some of the most resilient people, real people, humble people, and we’re very hardworking. And we’ve always been counted out, always.’’
The fight will be held at Dort Financial Center, which has a capacity of about 5,000 for boxing events.