Shields vs Hammer

Well, she has a movie being done on her life and I'm not talking about the 2015 documentary! She's Claressa Shields, 2x US Olympic Gold Medalist and holder of three belts and she's ready to take on Christina Hammer Saturday night at the famous Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ, live on Showtime.

Shields (8-0, 2 KO's), 24 years old, 5'8" with a 68" reach, made her pro debut as a middleweight on November 19, 2016 with a UD over the also debuting Franchon Crews Dezurn and it has been the only pro fight in which she did not fight for a title. She won the NABF crown in her second bout, March 10, '17, with a TKO over Szilvia Szabados and in June of that year, she grabbed the WBC Silver Super Middleweight belt with a UD over Sydney LeBlanc. Then came the current run of accumulating World Titles. The vacant IBF and WBC Super Middleweight belts were hers after dispatching Nikki Adler via TKO and she defended against Tori Nelson. Dropping down to middleweight, she garnered the IBF and WBA crowns with her win over Hanna Gabriels. She then dispatched Hannah Rankin and won the WBC belt with a victory over Femke Hermans last December 8th, which Hammer had held and was going to defend had this bout gone off at its original date. 

Shields held a 77-1 record as an amateur, her only loss coming back in 2012 when Savannah Marshall of England beat her 14-8 in the World Amateur Championships in China. She won her first Olympic Gold at the age of 17 in 2012 at the London Games, the first time Women's Boxing was represented. She followed up on that at the 2016 Rio Games by acquiring her second Gold Medal. The 2015 documentary film "T-Rex - Her Fight for Gold" followed her during her quest for the amateur crown.

There's no questioning her goal Saturday night: She wants all the belts! At the Media Luncheon held yesterday in NYC, Shields said it's the "hardest I've ever trained...because of the spotlight. I don't want to let my fans down. I don't want to let the women who came before me down." As for the busy social media activity surrounding this fight and the back-and-forths, she said, "I love trash talking, that comes natural." At Monday's international presser, she pointed out that it's not quite like the way some men trash talk. "We're not talking about anyone's mama!"

Regarding the upcoming film, acclaimed award-winning director Barry Jenkins and Universal Pictures have teamed up to produce a feature film on her life, with Jenkins penning the screenplay. 

Tomorrow I wrap up this 10-part series with some final thoughts as I prepare to head to the Shore to experience this historic matchup.

Bob Murray

TheWBR