Claressa Shields Fight Tonight: From Salon Prep to 100-90 Unanimous Win — How She Became the Main Event
Fresh off a high-profile build-up that included a transformed salon in a New Jersey apartment and a planned ringside appearance, claressa shields fight tonight culminated in a lopsided unanimous decision in Detroit that reinforced her place as the sport’s main event. The latest development matters because it ties together a decade-long grind, rapid stardom, and a night of dramatic undercard developments that will shape what comes next for Shields and her peers.
Claressa Shields Fight Tonight: Main Event Result
Claressa Shields retained her undisputed heavyweight championship with a unanimous 100-90 score on all three cards, improving her record to 18-0. Franchón Crews-Dezurn fell to 10-3. The rematch was a direct follow-up to their professional debuts on November 19, 2016, when Shields also won by unanimous decision. After the final bell the fighters exchanged words and ultimately embraced, bringing an end to a fight that had been preceded by high tension.
How Shields Became the Main Event
Shields entered the night already operating at a different level of visibility. She is undefeated and the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. In the hours before the return to Detroit, she transformed a room in her boyfriend Papoose’s New Jersey apartment building into a personal salon, with bottles, jars and powders on a table as she worked with her makeup artist, Andi. She selected shimmering eyeshadow and pink cheeks while wearing a bright pink Versace sweatshirt, having rinsed her face after shadowboxing at a nearby gym and after a meal of fish, rice and spinach. A bright red dress hung upstairs as one option for later appearances.
Her profile has escalated rapidly since last February, when she publicly launched her relationship with Papoose, who is going through a divorce with Remy Ma. For more than a decade Shields grinded in obscurity despite Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016; she was the first American boxer to win back-to-back Olympic golds. Fourteen years after her first Olympic gold and nine years after facing Crews-Dezurn in her pro debut on an undercard in Las Vegas, Shields is now receiving stratospheric fame. She engages on social media with fans, celebrities and critics alike, often responding to online haters and trolls, and has said her public moments tend to stay viral for days. An instruction she requested of her makeup artist that would be a new look is unfinished and unclear in the provided context.
Inside the Ring: Dynamics, Adjustment and Legacy
The fight itself began with an aggressive opening as Crews-Dezurn came forward early, but Shields adjusted and asserted control with superior hand speed and technical precision. Shields, listed as 18-0 with three KOs in one account, was credited with pitching a shutout on the judges’ scorecards (100-90, 100-90, 100-90). Crews-Dezurn, listed as 10-3 with two KOs in another account, appeared to lose punching power after an early burst and, by the middle rounds, had abandoned movement after expending energy in the fight’s first half. Tensions had been high coming into the bout: a heated face-off and a clash between teams at the pre-fight weigh-in escalated into a wild brawl the day before.
Shields’ rise included a weight-class move last year when she became the first undisputed heavyweight champion in women’s boxing after moving up from her natural middleweight division and unifying the WBC, WBO, WBA and IBF belts. The night in Detroit also marked the first fight of a new multi-fight deal valued at £5. 9m ($8m) and drew a strong crowd to Little Caesars Arena, the home arena of the Detroit Red Wings and Pistons. An estimated 18, 000 fans were expected to be in attendance for the main event on Feb. 22.
Undercard Drama, Medical Alarms and Upsets
The card was eventful beyond the main event. Atif Oberlton (14-0) was credited with a win when Joseph George (13-2) collapsed in his corner after an inactive opening round and the fight ended with a retirement. Paramedics treated George in the arena and he was eventually able to leave the ring under his own power, but later developments noted he was rushed to a hospital and was reportedly in stable condition; George is undergoing an MRI tonight. The sequence of treatment and subsequent hospital care are both part of the record from the evening.
Danielle Perkins (6-1) scored a sixth-round knockout over Australia’s Che Kenneally—listed elsewhere as Chei Kenneally—to claim the WBA light-heavyweight title; one account called the finish a Knockout of the Year contender, saying Perkins bloodied the champion with a single punch. On another part of the undercard, Samantha Worthington, described as one of Shields’ proteges, suffered a shocking upset loss to Edith Soledad Matthyse, who earned a finish at the end of eight rounds.
What Comes Next for Shields and the Division
Shields left the ring with her undisputed heavyweight titles intact and a clean sweep on the cards, and she signaled interest in future matchups that could involve dropping weight. The named potential opponents in the provided context include a trilogy with Franchón Crews-Dezurn at super middleweight, WBO and IBF champion Shadasia Green at super middleweight, or unified super welterweight champion Mikaela Mayer at a catchweight. Shields’ coach, John David Jackson, was referenced as continuing to work with her on power—an element that could produce a knockout in a future bout.
Night-to-night developments from a simmering public profile to in-ring adjustments and undercard medical emergencies have combined to make this a defining moment in Shields’ career. Further specifics about immediate next steps for some fighters are unclear in the provided context.
