“It feels unbelievable, to be honest,” Shields says. “I had a really hard training camp. And just last Friday, I tore my labrum in my left shoulder, so I wasn’t able to use my good jab today. But I didn’t want to call the fight off because I had asked God to give me a big fight in my hometown. He did that. So I decided to keep going through with it.”
She adds: “I feel so happy. And shout out to my opponent, Danielle Perkins. Man, that girl was strong as hell.”
Asked whether she was surprised that Perkins came back strong after nearly going out in the third, Shields mentions the confusion over the contracted weight limit.
“Knowing that the fight was at 180lb when I thought it was at 175lb, I had to cut a little bit of weight, and she didn’t have to. So I knew she would be a little bit stronger than what I thought. But I know I can get the job done, and I did.
“I showed I was the bigger puncher, I was the better boxer. I dropped her. To me, I dropped her twice, to be honest. And the last one I seen it, I just was like, give it to her. And I dropped her the last round, which I knew I could do it because I’m really strong at heavyweight.”
Shields wins by unanimous decision
It’s official. Claressa Shields has defeated Danielle Perkins by a 10-round unanimous decision to become the the undisputed women’s heavyweight champion by scores of 100-89, 97-92 and 99-90. (The Guardian had it 99-90.)
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