The FightPost 2022 Overseas Fighter of the Year: Claressa Shields

The FightPost 2022 Overseas Fighter of the Year: Claressa Shields

‘The night deserved, demanded even, a fight to match the historic occasion. We got that and more.’

If there was any doubt about the fighting credentials of Claressa Shields, and there shouldn’t have been, the American extinguished them and settled an old lingering rivalry in the process on a famous night at a sold-out O2 Arena in London in October.

Savannah Marshall came with the boasts of being the only fighter to have ever beaten Shields. A fight 10 years previously, which had little meaning in 2022. It helped sell the fight, nothing more.

Marshall came with confidence, and the big punch that many hoped would shut the vocal former two-time Olympic champion up. Marshall and the Shields haters would be disappointed. There was a narrative that Marshall only had to turn up and land her big punch to win. It was a lazy viewpoint and deeply insulting to Shields.

Make no mistake, Shields was simply inspired on her night of redemption.

‘In full Apollo Creed attire, Shields gave us a Rocky-type performance in a fight that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the Hollywood movie franchise. It was simply incredible and one of the greatest fights I have had the pleasure of witnessing from ringside. The special night got the special fight.’ My words from ringside on that historic night. The all-female card got the finishing touch it deserved.

Shields came blasting out from the opening seconds, and Marshall simply couldn’t live with her. Very quickly, maybe even after only a few seconds, there looked like only one winner. From a genuine 50/50 fight where many experts struggled to pick a winner pre-fight, a minute or so in, they would have been thinking why the struggles for a definitive prediction had taken so long. Shields made a fool of many that October night.

The American set a blistering breathtaking pace, and the ferocity of the exchanges had the look of a fight that would leave the judges redundant. But the fight miraculously went the distance. A credit to both fighters.

Marshall never stopped trying to save her night, but the big punch she needed never looked like coming. In truth, her fight was over before it had really started. Shields built a big early lead, and while Marshall found more success in the closing rounds, it never looked remotely like she would repeat her amateur win from 2012. The judges saw it, 96-94, 97-93, 97-93. A little close for me, but Shields had proved her point beyond doubt and left London the undisputed middleweight champion of the world.

That performance has earned Claressa Shields the FightPost Overseas Fighter of the Year for 2022.

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer