Hanna Gabriels, Claressa Shields’ original opponent. will be removed from her bout with shields after news arrived of her failing for the banned substance of clostebol, which is said to be linked to boosting testosterone. The two American female fighters were set to face each other next week on June 3rd at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, but with Gabriels’ failed test, Shields will now face Maricela Cornejo.
Hanna Gabriels (21-2-1, 12 KO’s) and Claressa Shields (13-0, 2 KO’s) were set to fight in their second match after their first bout in 2018 ended in a unanimous decision in favor of Shields. Gabriels is perhaps one of the most decorated female boxers, as evident from the world titles she won both before and after facing Claressa Shields. However, her failed drug test tarnishes a rather impressive career that saw Hanna Gabriels become a multi-weight division world champion over the course of a decade.
Following the news that came out, Hanna Gabriels’ promoter, Lou Dibella, explained how clostebol was found in his client’s system. According to him, Gabriels had used a substance containing clostebol to help her dog that was healing from a surgery to the abdomen. Dibella argues that clostebol ended up in Gabriels’ bloodstream by her applying aforementioned salve to her dog.
“The real victim in this situation is Hanna,” DiBella told BoxingScene. “She hasn’t had a payday in [25] months and now she’s out of a big fight. Her dog had major abdominal surgery. She applied the medication to her dog and that’s how it got in her bloodstream.
“As soon as she found out that she shouldn’t have touched the medication, she stopped doing it. If I’m wrong, analyze the amounts and show me the amounts in her system that prove she was cycling or microdosing or whatever.”
Though it is obviously a debate on whether Lou Dibella’s claims are considered to be truthful or not, DAZN, the promoter for this fight, has already decided to move ahead with Maricela Cornejo (16-5, 6 KO’s) as Claressa Shields’ next opponent.
36-year old Maricela Cornejo, also American, will step into the ring with Claressa Shields with more than a decade of experience as a professional boxer. Though Cornejo has challenged for world titles at both Middleweight and Super Middleweight, she has never won a world title and will face her toughest challenge yet in two-time undisputed champion Claressa Shields.
The opportunity is now there for Cornejo to not only become a world champion for the first time of her career, but become undisputed due to Claressa Shields’ hold over all the major titles at Middleweight. Despite being selected to fight Shields with just one week left, Cornejo had been in training camp to fight on June 6th and her #1 contender status on various official sanctioning bodies’ ranking boards not only makes her the ideal opponent to face Shields next in just a short amount of time, but probably the best opponent she can fight in the current women’s Middleweight division.
“I was getting ready for June 6th out in Costa Rica for a fight at 154 lbs, so I’m in tip-top shape, I’m in the best conditioning, the best mental state, the best physique I’ve had in my entire career.” Maricela Cornejo confidently told FightHype.
With both fighters ready and fully trained, June 3rd may turn up a couple surprises as Shields faces a Maricela Cornejo that has claimed to feel and be better than she ever was. The two will duke it out at the original planned venue of Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
