Claressa Shields Fight Tonight: From Viral Stardom to a 100-90 Shutout in Detroit

Claressa Shields fight tonight began as a media event and ended with Shields retaining her undisputed heavyweight titles by unanimous decision, a result that capped a weekend of drama and drew a strong crowd to Detroit's Little Caesars Arena.

Shields controlled the rematch and closed with a unanimous 100-90 sweep

Fighting in Detroit, Shields earned identical 100-90 scores on all three cards to beat Franchon Crews-Dezurn and improve her record to 18-0, while Crews-Dezurn fell to 10-3, per the official scorecards for the main event at Little Caesars Arena.

Shields said, "I had to take my time tonight, " adding that it was "one of the toughest fights I've been in during my pro career, " after rounds in which she asserted control with superior hand speed and adjusted to Crews-Dezurn's early onslaught.

Weigh-in brawl and medical checks set a tense tone

The rivalry spilled over before the ring: a wild brawl erupted at the weigh-in on Saturday and teams clashed at the pre-fight meeting, and Crews-Dezurn was evaluated by a doctor Sunday morning for knee and ankle issues but was cleared to compete that night.

Big night for Shields capped a long climb from Olympic gold to undisputed heavyweight

Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medallist from 2012 and 2016 and the first American to win back-to-back Olympic boxing golds, moved up from middleweight and became the first undisputed heavyweight champion in women's boxing after unifying the WBC, WBO, WBA and IBF belts last year; this Detroit bout also served as the first fight under her new £5. 9m ($8m) multi-fight deal.

From a personal side, Shields had spent years building her public profile; she said in a January interview that the cameras and social media attention are "a bit much" and that "my stuff stays viral for days and days and days, " noting the publicity surge after she publicly launched her relationship with her boyfriend Papoose last February while he was going through a divorce with Remy Ma.

Undercard drama: collapses, knockouts and an upset finish

The main card produced its own headlines: Atif Oberlton was awarded a R1 TKO win over Joseph George after George collapsed off his stool following an inactive opening round; paramedics treated George and one account said he was able to leave the ring under his own power, while another account said he was rushed to a Detroit hospital and is reportedly in stable condition and undergoing an MRI tonight.

Danielle Perkins scored a sixth-round knockout over Che Kenneally to claim the WBA light-heavyweight title, and Samantha Worthington, a protege of Shields, suffered a shocking eight-round loss to Edith Soledad Matthyse on the undercard.

What the result means and what comes next

With the 100-90 sweep in Detroit, Shields kept undisputed status and left the ring having embraced Crews-Dezurn after a tense final bell and a heated build-up that included their professional debut meeting on Nov. 19, 2016; Shields had also said she might pursue fights at super middleweight or a catchweight, naming potential opponents such as Shadasia Green and Mikaela Mayer.

Joseph George is scheduled for an MRI tonight as medical follow-up, and Shields had been scheduled earlier to make a ringside appearance at the Shakur Stevenson–Teofimo Lopez fight a few hours after a January afternoon when she described prepping at her boyfriend Papoose's New Jersey apartment, where she had turned a room into a personal salon and planned her look with makeup artist Andi.