RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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As a star boxer, Claressa Shields has it all. Well, almost.
Two Olympic gold medals. Nineteen world titles. A pro record of 18-0.
But, only three knockouts.
“I have more knockouts than she has wins,’’ Laila Ali said last yaer.
Indeed, Ali does, having finished her career 24-0 with 21 knockouts.
Shields will have another chance to quiet critics when she fights Kaye Scott for the WBA and WBC women’s middleweight world titles Saturday, Aug. 15 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
“I care a little bit,’’ Shields said during preparations for the fight. “Who doesn’t want a knockout? But at the end of the day, a win is a win.’’
But when it comes to legacy, is a win a win? Will a lack of knockouts tarnish Shields' legacy?
“Absolutely not,’’ Malissa Smith, a women’s boxing historian, told USA TODAY Sports. “Claressa Shields is a once in a generation kind of fighter.’’
Shields, 31, enters the fight against Scott as a massive -3000 favorite, which converts to a 97% probability of her winning the fight. She is +150 to win by KO, TKO or DQ, which converts to a 40% probability that the fight will end by stoppage.
That signals a sense of optimism, considering Shields has won only 16.7% of her fights by knockout.
What Claressa Shields says about knockouts
The topic of knockouts can ruffle Shields.
“I don’t know why you all think you be offending somebody by telling me, 'oh, you got three knockouts,'" she said this month. “I got 19 world titles on top of five different divisions. And I make the most money with the least knockouts. ... It don’t matter.’’
In February, Shields addressed the subject before her fight against Franchon Crews Dezurn.
“If you look at my record, the only thing I don’t have is knockouts,’’ she said. “I have the championships. I have the undisputed titles. I have all the divisions.
“Now it’s like, dang, how about we get some more knockouts? So I’ve been pushing myself for that.’’
She beat Crews Dezurn.
By unanimous decision.
How Claressa Shields stacks up against KO record holders
On Aug. 21, Amanda Serrano will have a chance to set a new record for knockouts by a female boxer when she fights Lucrecia Manzur in a featherweight title bout. She and retired boxer Christy Martin are tied with 32 knockouts.
Shields posted photos of her and Serrano side-by-side with this caption: “The most knockouts don’t mean you’re the most skilled.’’ With a typo but conviction, she also wrote, “GOWAT REIGNS SUPREME.’’
Smith, author of ‘’The Promise of Women’s Boxing,’’ concurs.
“I'm not taking anything away from Amanda Serrano, believe me. But a lot of her knockouts are TKOs that occurred earlier in her career,’’ Smith said.
Serrano is coming off a TKO over Cheyenne Hanson in May. But Smith also pointed out that before Serrano stopped Stevie Morgan by TKO in 2024, she had not knocked out an opponent since 2021.
In Serrano’s last 12 fights, she has two knockouts.
But even if she gets the record, she won't be defined by KOs as much as having won nine major titles in seven divisions.
Martin possessed great power and a ferocity inside the ring. But she is known just as much for being a trailblazer, the first female boxer to fight on a pay-per-view card and the first to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Neither can match the accolades Shields has collected as an amateur and a pro.
What distinguishes Claressa Shields
During a recent appearance on Max Kellerman’s boxing show, Shields claimed she could beat Rolly Romero, the men’s WBA welterweight champion.
“What size gloves?’’ Kellerman asked.
“What size gloves?'' Shields shot back. "Do you not see this face? I don’t even get hit.’’
Although Shields has never been a knockout artist, her boxing artistry derives from a combination of defense, footwork, quickness and punching volume.
With Serrano likely to break the knockout record, Smith said she expects Serrano to be a first-ballot inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
“But Shields is something else,’’ Smith said. “With Shields, it’s like, ‘Oh, you’re big. You should be getting KOs.’ (But) she puts on incredibly exciting bouts and everybody watching her goes, ‘Oh my God.’ ”
And the lack of knockouts?
“It might be just a matter of physics, how you're executing the torque, how you're finding that mark,’’ Smith said. “It’s not for lack of trying. I mean, she hits hard. That's for sure.’’
Claressa Shields knockouts
Shields recorded her first knockout as a pro in her second fight, when she stopped Szilvia Szabados by TKO in the fourth round of their middleweight bout in March 2017.
Shields got her second knockout in the fourth fight of her pro career. She stopped Nikki Adler in the fifth round of their super middleweight title fight in August 2017.
Shields got her third in July 2024, when she stopped Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse by TKO in the second round of their heavyweight title fight. Shields knocked down Lepage-Joanisse three times in the second round before the referee halted the fight.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Claressa Shields has it all, except for knockouts. Does it matter?
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