Claressa Shields made history on Sunday night.
The self-proclaimed GWOAT of boxing unified all four belts in the women’s heavyweight division by dominating the significantly overmatched Danielle Perkins over the distance.
Shields, boxing in her birthplace of Flint, Michigan, dropped the previously undefeated Perkins in the tenth and final round with a right hook en route to a comfortable unanimous decision victory.
The three judges scored the fight in her favour by margins of 97-92, 99-90, and 100-89 to improve her unblemished record to 16-0.
Her triumph at heavyweight comes after the two-time Olympic gold medallist’s undisputed reigns in the super welterweight and middleweight divisions.
In doing so, she became the first three-weight undisputed champion in the four-belt era.
Prior to this weekend, Shields was tied with Oleksandr Usyk (cruiserweight and heavyweight), Terence Crawford (super lightweight and welterweight) and Naoya Inoue (bantamweight and super bantamweight) on two.
But her latest triumph takes her clear of the pack.
She is also the first undisputed female heavyweight champion (175lbs plus) in history as well.
Speaking after her record-breaking win, Shields said: “Danielle was strong, she was definitely a problem but my experience and my skills got me over it.
“I’ve been in plenty of street fights with bigger people and I had to use some of my skills in that today, too.
“So, when I dropped her in the last round, it’s because she got greedy.”
Shields later revealed that she was almost forced out of the fight after sustaining a shoulder injury last week.
“I actually think I’m going to have to have surgery on my left arm,” she added.
“I tore my labrum last week, so the fight almost didn’t happen.
“I didn’t want to let Flint down, but I really couldn’t use my jab the way that I wanted to.
“I iced it, I did therapy and now I think I’m going to have a shoulder surgery.”
Shields is now targeting a rematch with Hanna Gabriels next after snatching the IBF and WBA middleweight titles away from the Costa Rican in 2018.
She continued: “It ain’t enough. That’s how I think. I think that I didn’t get my flowers for so many years so even though I’m getting them now, it’s like that’s not enough.
“I deserve more than that. I’m fighting for a million dollars.
“I’m supposed to be getting paid five. This ain’t it. So, for me, that’s where the fire comes from.”
