BN Preview: The brilliant Claressa Shields treads water in Detroit

It’s a strange concept that Claressa Shields would grant Hanna Gabriels a rematch due to Gabriels knocking her down in a fight five years ago. What’s even stranger is the reason why that rematch won’t happen now.

Lou DiBella, Gabriels’ promoter, claimed that “Her dog had major abdominal surgery. She applied the medication to her dog and that’s how it got in her bloodstream.” He was discussing a performance-enhancing drug (clostebol) that was found in one of Gabriels’ pre-fight drug tests. This caused the rematch against Shields to fall by the wayside.

While it’s a shame for Gabriels and Shields, it might not be a bad thing after all. In a perfect world, Gabriels would have had to do a lot more to earn her shot at Shields, who currently holds multiple middleweight belts. Worthy opponents for Shields are few and far between. Gabriels managed to do something no one else has, which is to knock her down. However, she then went on to win three easy fights against novices in the following five years.

This isn’t the fault of the boxes themselves; they can only fight who is put in front of them. Eventually, women’s boxing will grow, and the talent pool will increase accordingly. For now, there will be mismatches and ludicrous “world title” fights as exhibited in Shields vs. Maricela Cornejo.

Claressa Shields (Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)

Replacing the original bout, Shields vs. Cornejo does not help Shields establish her legacy or her progression as a fighter. Nevertheless, Cornejo is a capable challenger, standing at 5’10 and with a four-inch reach advantage. However, she has already found her level in previous bouts against women who were favoured to beat her. While she has only lost once since then, it’s hard to see what she has done to justify another world title shot.

Shields deserves better, and her legacy and momentum following her victory against Savannah Marshall show it. Despite this setback, she will still have to face Cornejo, whom she will probably beat by decision. Once this fight is over, let’s hope Shields will be able to move forward as opposed to sideways.

Undercard features unbeaten Areal Holmes Jnr and Haitian Wendy Toussaint fighting over 10 rounds at super-welterweight. Holmes, a southpaw, is slowly stepping up the competition, while Toussaint, who only lost once against Charles Conwell in 2020, was last seen outpointing Britain’s Asinia Byfield over eight rounds in June 2022.



Source link