Different weight, different opponent, same result. With a twist.
Five-division champion Claressa Shields outclassed Kaye Scott before stopping her in the sixth round to win the WBA and WBC middleweight titles Saturday night at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Shields (19-0, 4 KOs) was fighting at 160 pounds for the first time in three years. She gave up the WBA and WBC belts when moving to the 175-pound heavyweight class, where she became undisputed champion.
The knockout was her second over the past nine years, a particularly gratifying achievement for the 31-year-old.
Her stoppage victory sets up a massive matchup with Ring and unified welterweight titlist Lauren Price, a fellow Olympic champion, who agreed a 160-pound move to meet Shields, although no contracts have been signed.
"This was a hard camp," Shields said immediately after the fight. "I always say to myself that everything is easy work, but this was a hard camp. I cut 38 pounds. I started 14 weeks ago at 198 and got down to 160.
"I think this is the most discipline I've been since the Olympics."
If Shields felt the effects of moving down to middleweight on fight night, it wasn’t reflected in her performance.
The Flint, Michigan star overwhelmed Scott (5-2-1, 0 KOs) with superior speed and ability, picking the Australian apart from both the outside and inside when Scott forced the action.
Scott tried to match fire with fire, but simply doesn’t have the tools to compete with one of the all-time greatest female boxers, whose skill set is off the charts.
Shields was unable to seriously hurt Scott through five rounds but hard punches to both the head and body evidently wore down the 42-year-old from Sydney, who won her titles by outpointing Olivia Curry in December.
Scott was ripe for a stoppage in the sixth, which is when a brutal left hook and follow up overhand right from Shields sent her stumbling into the ropes for a knockdown.
Referee Joel Scobie ruled Scott could continue but absorbing a few more shots convinced the champion’s handlers to throw in three towels simultaneously, ending the one-sided fight at 1:38 of the sixth round.
Shields, who has long craved a stoppage win, couldn’t have been happier than the moment she saw the towels as she beamed with excitement.
"I started going to the body to break her down," Shields said. "... All the girls are super tough to go 10 rounds. (But) I could see that the right hand was landing to her body. I just tried to get close, take my time with my shots, I threw a right, hook, right and she started wobbling and going down.
"... I just came out to show by I'm No. 1 pound for pound."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIhwJlYP1qk
Now she can look forward to a more significant test. Shields vs. Price (10-0, 2 KOs) would be one of boxing's biggest possible matchups, pitting unbeaten former Olympic champions against one another.
Shields is No. 2 on The Ring’s pound-for-pound list, Price No. 8.
Price would have to move up two weight classes to face a future first ballot Hall of Famer, which would be a daunting challenge, but obviously she’s willing to do so because of the event's magnitude.
It's clear that Shields is enthusiastic about the matchup, as she climbed into the ring to face off with Price after the Welsh star outpointed Stephanie Pineiro in April, the first marketing salvo to promote the possible matchup.
