Undisputed women’s middleweight champion Claressa Shields has accused Latvian fighter Arturs Ahmetovs and his team of removing the padding from his boxing gloves after a video resurfaced of Shields being knocked down by Ahmetovs. According to Shields, the video was made roughly five years ago. She went on to criticize Ahmetovs and his team for releasing a clip half a decade later.
In the video, Claressa Shields is heard taunting Arturs Ahmetovs with a “is that all you got?” statement during their sparring sessions, to which Ahmetovs responded with several hard combinations. A left hook from Ahmetovs’ orthodox stance dropped Shields. It’s worth noting that both fighters were wearing headgear during this session. On a lesser note, Ahmetov also fights at 140 lbs as opposed to Shields fighting at 160 lbs.
Shields clarified that the clip was from several years ago, accusing Ahmetovs and his team of removing the padding from his gloves during sparring. She stated on her Twitter account, “One thing for sure, if I went public in 2018 about how this fellow professional boxer and boxing trainer took his padding out of his gloves to spar against me because I embarrassed him earlier that week, it would have jeopardized my upcoming world title fight.“
The accusation that Ahmetovs removed the padding from his gloves cannot be proven at this point, nor can the knockdown that ensued be definitively attributed to the removal of padding. Such practices are generally frowned upon, increasing the risk of injuries and potentially reducing the force generated due to the removal of extra weight provided by the padding, thus decreasing the chances of knockdowns.
It’s important to note that both fighters wore headgear, making the removal of padding in boxing gloves less beneficial unless strikes target areas not covered by protection. Shields’ claim might have been more credible if she had been knocked down to an unprotected area.
Shields also warned others that they would get sued if they reported she was knocked out rather than knocked down. She stated on her Instagram account, “[If] anybody or [any] network post[s] that sparring video from 5 years ago [is] getting blocked and [getting] a defamation of character letter because I did not get KO’ed. I got knocked down by a b**** boy with no padding in his gloves.“
Conversely, there is no clear evidence she was not knocked out, as she is seen lingering on the ground for roughly ten counts. According to the rules of most State Athletic Commissions in the USA, she could have been counted out if it had been a real match, which would then be ruled a knockout.
Ironically, Shields’ own accusation against Arturs Ahmetovs and his team leaves her in a position to be sued, with potentially more severe consequences than her warning to other media outlets and people misreporting on how she got knocked out.
Shields later put out a video where she substantiated on her claims, describing her situation with Arturs Ahmetovs and his team in full.
“Derik Santos, the coach, tried to take the gloves and hide them in the bag,” Shields said during a livestream on her social media, captured by FightHype.
“This dude [Arturs Ahmetovs] wants to post this video five years later after he got knocked out by Regis [Prograis] and then he don’t even box no more. He got knocked out one time and now he don’t box.“
While the full truth of the clip is unknown, Claressa Shields’ accusations against Ahmetovs’ team removing his padding are quite serious, given the stigma attached to teams accused of engaging in unsportsmanlike conduct. Moreover, Shields provided no actual proof or indication that Ahmetovs’ padding had been removed other than her claims.
