In a dominating and emphatic performance, hometown favorite Claressa Shields captured the WBC and IBF Super Middleweight World Championships in just her fourth professional fight Friday night on ShoBox: The New Generation live on SHOWTIME at MGM Grand Detroit.
The 22-year-old Shields (4-0, 2 KOs) of Flint, Mich. annihilated the previously undefeated Nikki Adler (16-1, 9 KOs) of Germany dominating the fight from start to finish as referee Michael Griffin waved the fight off at 1:34 of Round 5.
WBC Super Middleweight World Champion Nikki Adler and hometown favorite, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Claressa Shields officially made weight on Thursday, one day before they headline a doubleheader tomorrow/Friday, Aug. 4 on ShoBox: The New Generation live on SHOWTIME® (10:30 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) from MGM Grand Detroit.
Shields (3-0, 1 KO) tipped the scales at 165 ¼ pounds with the champion Adler (16-0, 9 KOs) of Germany coming in at 166 pounds even. In the ShoBox co-feature, world-ranked super bantamweight Vladimir Tikhonov (15-0, 9 KOs) of Russia will face Jesse Hernandez (8-1, 6 KOs) of Fort Worth, Texas, in an eight-round bout. Both fighters weighed in at 123 ¼ pounds.
The four fighters participating in “Battle of the Best”, the ShoBox: The New Generation headlined by WBC Super Middleweight World Champion Nikki Adler and two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Claressa Shields, participated in a final press conference on Wednesday in advance of Friday’s doubleheader telecast from MGM Grand Detroit.
Shields (3-0, 1 KO) will challenge Adler (16-0, 9 KOs) of Germany in just her fourth pro fight since winning Gold at the 2016 Olympics on Friday, August 4, at MGM Grand in Detroit, Mich. live on SHOWTIME (10:30 p.m. ET/PT).
On Friday, August 4, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Claressa “T-Rex” Shields will make another significant stop on her historic journey through the sport of boxing.
In the 10-round main event of Salita Promotions’ “BATTLE OF THE BEST” event at MGM Grand Detroit and televised live on ShoBox: The New Generation (10;30 p.m. ET/PT) Shields (3-0, 1 KO) will challenge for her first world title in just her fourth fight against reigning WBC Super Middleweight World Champion Nikki Adler (16-0, 9 KOs) of Germany.
Two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Claressa Shields shined in her television debut, knocking out the durable Szilvia Szabados in the fourth round (1:30) to advance to 2-0 as a professional in the main event on ShoBox: The New Generation Friday on SHOWTIME at MGM Grand Detroit.
Shields (2-0, 1 KOs) put on a show less than an hour from her hometown of Flint, Mich., landing nearly 50 percent of her power shots in the first women’s boxing main event in premium television history.
Two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Claressa Shields (1-0) of Flint, Mich., and bantamweight contender Nikolay Potapov (16-0-1, 8 KOs) of Podolsk, Russia, worked out for the media on Tuesday in advance of their ShoBox: The New Generation televised bouts for Salita Promotions’ “Detroit City Gold” on Friday, March 10, at MGM Grand Detroit, and live on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT).
The first women’s boxing main event to be featured on premium television, Shields’ history making fight will be a six-round battle against Hungary’s Szilvia “Sunset” Szabados (15-8, 6 KOs) for the Women’s NABF Middleweight Championship.