After first career knockdown, new middleweight champ Claressa Shields wins ‘Fight of the Year’

DETROIT — Claressa Shields got the surprise of her pro career in the first round of her middleweight championship fight Friday night at the Masonic Temple.

The fight had barely begun when Shields found herself sitting on the canvas after getting knocked down by a right-left combination from Hanna Gabriels.

Shields, who was fighting Gabriels for the vacant IBF and WBA middleweight championship, was expecting the toughest bout of her pro career and that’s exactly what she the two-time Olympic gold medalist from Flint got before earning a unanimous decision to become a two-division champion.

“I’ve never been knocked down before,” said Shields, who also holds two super middleweight belts. “I’ve never had an eight count. Once I hit the ground, I took a deep breath and I remember thinking to myself ‘I’m going to whip this girl’s (butt).’

“I just remember thinking ‘Use your jab. Let’s be smart’ because I already knew her arms were thicker than mine but I didn’t know if she had any power. So I told myself, ‘Go out there, use your jab and show them why you’re the GWOAT.’ And I did that.

“I think I did a great job.”

GWOAT stands for Greatest Women of All-Time, something Shields has been calling herself since last August, when a TKO over Germany’s Nikki Adler gave her the WBC and IBF world titles in just her fourth pro fight.

Not everyone agrees with the GWOAT label — Gabriels’ trainer is one of them — but she’s certainly making a case for herself after beating Gabriels, who is the WBC and WBA super welterweight champion.

After losing the first round, Shields (6-0, 2 KOs) won the final nine on the cards of two judges while the third awarded her eight of the last nine rounds.

Even Gabriels (18-2-1, 11 KOs) seemed a bit surprised by the early knockdown but she also didn’t think the fight was as one-sided as it was scored. In fact, Gabriels wasn’t sure she lost at all, saying it might have been a draw.

“I didn’t expect to knock her down, to be honest,” said Gabriels. “I don’t think I’m that powerful. But I was trying to find my speed. It was difficult because she was really strong. I feel good. I stand tall. I think this fight shows my heart and what I represent as a champion.

“I don’t think she’s the most powerful I ever fought but she’s got good speed. I tried to do my best, really and truly. I put my heart in there. I don’t think that I lost by so many points. I don’t know that I lost at all but I respect the opinion of the judges.

“When you’re a boxer and you’re professional, all you’ve got is to trust that the people around you are going to be ethical and they will do the right thing. So they gave her the win. That’s fine with me.”

Neither fighter tried to feel the other out in the first round, instead going right at each other. During the middle rounds, both appeared to be looking to counter the other before they again went right at each other near the end. They were still going toe-to-toe in the 10th and final round.

The 35-year-old Gabriels slowed down in the middle rounds but Shields, 23, was strong throughout. She credited that to a grueling seven-week training camp, during which Shields lost 23 pounds to drop down one weight class and fight Gabriels at 160 pounds.

“I trained my (butt) off for this fight,” Shields said. “Despite how great I think I am, I work my (butt) off every camp. I run. I made sure I was in shape. I sparred. I sparred eight rounds, 10 rounds. I worked out twice a day, sometimes three times a day. Hell, I made the weight. I knew I was well prepared.

“So when I got knocked down, I wasn’t thinking ‘Oh, don’t get back up.’ I was thinking ‘Let’s show her that she can’t beat me. Let’s show here that we can go all 10. I bet you can’t knock me down again. I bet you can’t finish it.’ I knew she couldn’t.

“She started holding me. She head butted me more than one time.”

Although Shields didn’t think the head butts were intentional, she was left with a small cut on her left cheek that she said was the result of a head butt. And Gabriels had a nice-sized mouse under her left eye.

Both agreed it was a great fight.

“I really put my heart in it and I hope people got the excitement they expect from a boxing match,” said Gabriels, who would accept a rematch but wants to fight next at 154 pounds to protect her WBA super welterweight crown.

Shields went a step further when grading the fight.

“Tell me a man’s match that was better than that tonight,” Shields said. “I really can’t think of one and I really think we deserve Fight of the Year. And I’m not talking about women’s fight. I mean Fight of the Year. That was definitely Fight of the Year.

“I showed my character and like I said, I don’t know a lot of guys who can get knocked on their (butt) and get up and finish the fight. Even when the fight was over, I was like “Damn, champ. You did that.’ I just remember when I fell, I was like “Oh (bleep). It’s about to go down.'”

Shields’ next fight will almost certainly be against Germany’s Christina Hammer (23-0, 10 KOs) to unify the middleweight division.

Hammer retained her WBO and WBC middleweight titles with a unanimous decision over Tori Nelson in the fight before Shields and Gabriels took center stage.

Shields hopes that fight takes place in September or October.