Since the release of the video demonstrating Claressa Shields being knocked down, various people have taken note, including the coach of Shields’ Latvian sparring partner Arturs Ahmetovs, Derik Santos. Reacting to Shields’ accusations of Ahmetovs and his team removing the padding of his gloves, Santos denied the accusations and explained his side of the story.
Due to the serious allegations surrounding the removal of Arturs Ahmetovs’ (6-1, 2 KO’s) glove padding during a sparring session with world-renowned female boxer Claressa Shields (14-0, 2 KO’s), Derik Santos felt compelled to respond in an effort to clear his and his fighter’s name.
“She is full of s***,” Derek Santos asserted in a social media post revealed yesterday.
“They asked for help to spar. Why would we want to spar a woman? No one took the padding out of the gloves. After she [Shields] was accusing [us] of this, the gloves were handed to her coach. But more importantly, she sparred 2 rounds prior where Arturs was instructed not to hit her hard.
“While he [Ahmetovs] was working with her, she started talking mad s*** at him and fouling him to the point she tripped him. In the break, he said what the h*** is going on here. We are trying to help. She is a woman. What was replied was, ‘well, punch her back, she is a big girl, multi-time champ.’.
“He [Ahmetovs] even tried to help her up. No one wanted that to happen. This also happened years ago, and obviously the video was never seen. Even through all her comments of how she would beat a guy, nothing derogatory was said or spoken towards her in this moment. That was done out of respect for her, and [there is] nothing to be gained from what happens in sparring.
“Now she went to talking, and he posted it. Now this is going to go around. Was it him, or did she do it to herself? Years now, even her coach said you had your chin up and got caught, smh [smack my head].“
Derik Santos’ response came off the back of Shields’ claims that Ahmetov and his team removed the padding of his gloves.
“I have no problem getting caught in sparring; it happens, and for the majority, I spar men! But this dude, Arthurs and his coach Derik Santos, were embarrassed, and the next time we sparred he purposely wore gloves with little to no padding, I can’t make this up.” Were Claressa Shields’ words on the matter before Santos’ own social media post.
Derik Santos claims that there was no foul play, and he further maintains that Shields was simply hit by a good shot, a belief shared by Shields’ own trainer, presumably John David Jackson.
This situation has now spiraled into a “he say, she say” conundrum with the truth of what occurred in 2018 still unknown. Jackson, who was presumably present at the sparring session, given he is considered to be one of Shields’ main trainers, has yet to respond to the entire situation.
Though difficult for anyone outside of the sparring session to conclusively pinpoint what happened, the claims of Shields that Ahmetovs removed the padding of his gloves do not necessarily result in an increase of knockdowns unless the gloves hit an unprotected part of an opponent’s body. In that case, Shields should have been able to notice the difference between a padded glove and a non-padded glove.
However, Shields has not substantiated her claims other than stating her knockdown occurred because of removed padding on Ahmetovs’ gloves. With no further evidence to support her statements, Derik Santos’ claims appear to be slightly more realistic as he merely emphasizes Shields being hit by a good shot from Ahmetovs.
Whatever the case, Claressa Shields has built an impressive resume since 2018, becoming undisputed a year later at middleweight and repeating that feat in October of 2022 after defeating Savannah Marshall.
Shields last fought on June 23rd, where she recorded an impressive one-sided victory over fellow American Maricela Cornejo, defending her undisputed middleweight titles in the process.
