Claressa Shields Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Claressa Maria Shields was born on March 17, 1995. She is an American professional boxer. She is African American. She is an Olympic gold medallist and holds various heavyweight titles. She is currently twenty three years old.

Early Life

Claressa Maria Shields was born on March 17, 1995, in Flint in Michigan, United States of America. Her father, Bo Shields, introduced her to boxing when she was twelve years old. Her father was a boxer in the underground leagues before he was imprisoned. Bo was jailed when Claressa was two years old and released when she was nine years old. Claressa later met Jason Crutchfield who became her coach and trainer.

Career

Claressa Shields started as an amateur boxer. She won two Junior Olympic Championships before she participated in the National Police Athletic League Championships in 2011. At the championships, she won the middleweight title. She was also named top overall fighter and qualified for the United States Olympic Trials. At the trials, she won in the middleweight class. In 2011, she earned her weight class at the Women’s Elite Continental Championships in Cornwall in Ontario.

In 2012, she won a gold medal at the Olympics after beating Nadezda Torlopova who is a Russian boxer. Two years later, she won the World Championships. In 2015, she won titles at the Women’s boxing in the Olympics and the Pan American Games. In 2016, she won a gold medal at the AMBC Olympic Qualifying Tournament that was held in Argentina. In the same year, she won the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics when she defeated Nouchka Fontijn from the Netherlands. At the competition, she won the Val Barker Trophy. In her amateur career, she has seventy-seven wins and one loss.

In 2016, Claressa Shields started her professional career when she won her first match against Franchon Crews. In 2017, she won the North American Boxing Federation Middleweight Title. She later won the WBC Super Middleweight Belt and the IBF Super Middleweight. In 2018, she retained her WBC and IBF titles. She also won the WBAN Super Middleweight title after defeating Tori Nelson. She later won the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation Middleweight belts when she fought Hanna Gabriels. She then started training with John David Jackson and lost eight pounds from her initial one hundred and sixty eight pounds.

Awards and Achievements

In 2017, Claressa Shields was awarded the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Sports Award for Biggest Powerhouse. The following year, she was inducted into the United States of America Boxing Alumni Association’s Hall of Fame.

Personal Life

While Claressa Shields was growing up, Shields was sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriends. At the age of thirteen, she was baptized and found comfort in the church which gave her the strength to leave home. She is currently twenty three years old.