1. Claressa Maria Shields was born on March 17,1995 and is an American professional boxer and professional mixed martial artist.
52 Facts About Claressa Shields
1. 2.
Claressa Shields has held multiple world championships in 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 and the undisputed female heavyweight title since February 2025.
3.
Claressa Shields is the third female boxer in history to become champion in five different divisions.
4.
Claressa Shields is a professional mixed martial artist, competing in the Professional Fighters League.
5.
Claressa Shields was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, where she was a high school junior in May 2012.
6.
Claressa Shields was introduced to boxing by her father, Bo Shields, who had boxed in underground leagues.
7.
Bo was in prison from the time Claressa Shields was two to nine years old.
8.
Bo believed that boxing was a men's sport and refused to allow Claressa Shields to pursue it until she was eleven.
9.
At the 2013 IBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Bulgaria, Claressa Shields defeated polish boxer Elzbieta Wojcik to win gold in the middleweight class.
10.
In 2014, Claressa Shields won gold at the US National Championships in Spokane, Washington.
11.
Claressa Shields 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.
12.
Claressa Shields defended her gold at the 2015 US National Championships by defeating Raquel Miller in the finals.
13.
Claressa Shields won the gold medal at the 2016 AMBC Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Argentina defeating Dominican Republic's Yenebier Guillen in her final bout on her 21st birthday.
14.
In May 2016, Claressa Shields defeated Nouchka Fontijn by unanimous decision to win gold at the World Championships.
15.
Claressa Shields was awarded the inaugural women's division of the Val Barker Trophy at the competition.
16.
Claressa Shields won her first match, against Franchon Crews-Dezurn, by unanimous decision.
17.
On June 16,2017, Claressa Shields headlined the "Detroit Brawl," facing Sydney LeBlanc in her first scheduled eight-round bout.
18.
Claressa Shields won the bout by decision after all eight rounds.
19.
On June 22,2018, in just her sixth professional fight, Claressa Shields defeated Hanna Gabriel by unanimous decision, winning the vacant WBA and inaugural IBF middleweight belts, breaking the record for becoming a two-weight world champion in the fewest professional fights, a record previously held by Vasyl Lomachenko.
20.
Claressa Shields dropped down from 168 pounds to 160 for the fight.
21.
On December 8,2018, Claressa Shields' fight aired on HBO, her first appearance on the network, a fight which was a part of the last boxing card to occur on HBO.
22.
Claressa Shields faced Femke Hermans outboxing her all 10 rounds for a unanimous decision victory.
23.
Claressa Shields was scheduled to fight Ivana Habazin for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title in Flint, Michigan, on October 5,2019.
24.
On March 5,2021, Claressa Shields defeated Marie-Eve Dicaire by unanimous decision to retain her WBC and WBO super welterweight titles, claim IBF 154-pound belt, and vacant WBA light middleweight strap.
25.
Claressa Shields captured a unanimous decision with all referees scoring every round for her, and retained her WBA, WBC, IBF, and The Ring female middleweight titles meanwhile winning the WBF female middleweight title.
26.
Claressa Shields was initially scheduled to face reigning WBO Middleweight Champion Savannah Marshall in a title unification bout on September 10,2022.
27.
On June 3,2023, Claressa Shields defeated Maricela Cornejo by unanimous decision at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan to retain her undisputed middleweight title.
28.
Claressa Shields was scheduled to challenge Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse for her WBC heavyweight title at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI on July 27,2024.
29.
Claressa Shields won the fight via second-round TKO, dropping Joanisse three times along the way.
30.
On February 2,2025, Claressa Shields faced Danielle Perkins for the undisputed heavyweight championship at Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan.
31.
In November 2020, Claressa Shields had signed a three-year contract with Professional Fighters League and was expected to make her mixed martial arts debut in 2021.
32.
Since Claressa Shields first announced that her MMA debut, she has begun training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has gone to train under IBJJF no gi World Champion Roberto Alencar, alongside Holly Holm.
33.
Claressa Shields started training at JacksonWink MMA in late 2020.
34.
Claressa Shields made her MMA debut at PFL 4 on June 10,2021, against Brittney Elkin.
35.
Claressa Shields won the fight via technical knockout in round three.
36.
Claressa Shields faced Kelsey DeSantis on February 24,2024, at PFL vs Bellator.
37.
Claressa Shields was unable to make the appropriate weight for her fight with DeSantis, forcing her opponent to fight up two weight classes, with the bout taking place at 165 pounds.
38.
Claressa Shields was baptized at age 13 and began attending a local church.
39.
Claressa Shields found strength in her Christian faith and eventually left home.
40.
Claressa Shields is an ambassador for Up2Us Sports, a national non-profit organization dedicated to supporting underserved youth by providing them with coaches trained in positive youth development.
41.
Claressa Shields is an ambassador for gender equality in sports, particularly boxing, which is under-covered by the media.
42.
In 2021 Claressa Shields followed a pescatarian diet, and later appeared on an interview with Mythical Kitchen eating meat.
43.
In 2024 it was revealed that Claressa Shields was in a secret relationship with Brooklyn rapper Papoose.
44.
Claressa Shields has publicly opened up about her love for Papoose, and the two were spotted together at Hawaii fest 2025.
45.
Claressa Shields is the subject of the 2015 documentary T-Rex: Her Fight for Gold which follows her dreams of being the first woman in history to win a gold medal in Olympic boxing.
46.
In 2016, Claressa Shields was slated to act in the Susan Seidelman-directed film Punch Me.
47.
In December 2016, Claressa Shields became the third woman and second female boxer ever to grace the cover of The Ring magazine.
48.
In 2018, Claressa Shields acted in a Walmart ad directed by Dee Rees.
49.
Claressa Shields was awarded Outstanding Boxer at the World Championships in May 2016.
50.
Claressa Shields was honored as the Sportswoman of the Year by the Women's Sports Foundation in 2016,2019, and 2023.
51.
In 2018, Claressa Shields was inducted into the USA Boxing Alumni Association's Hall of Fame.
52.
In 2023, Claressa Shields became the first woman to win the Best Boxer ESPY Award.