Claressa Shields is making another step as she moves up to the heavyweight division to fight one of the division’s few but most prevalent contenders: Danielle Perkins. Shields had previously won the WBC heavyweight and WBO light-heavyweight titles during her 175 lbs debut. The two will be headlining a Slalita Promotions card at the Dort Financial Center in Flint (Shields’ hometown), Michigan on February 2nd.
Claressa Shields’ (15-0, 3 KO’s) WBC women’s heavyweight (200+ lbs) title will be on the line, while the vacant WBO and IBF heavyweight titles will also be made available on February 2 for her or Danielle Perkins (5-0, 2 KO’s) to win.
The upcoming match marks the first time Shields will actually fight as a heavyweight, with her previous match―held at light-heavyweight (175 lbs)―having been misconstrued as a heavyweight contest due to the availability of the WBC’s “heavyweight” title. The WBC dubs their brand of the women’s heavyweight division as any weight between 168 lbs and 175 lbs, which is essentially just the light-heavyweight division.
The introduction of the WBO and IBF women’s heavyweight titles signifies that Claressa Shields will in fact participate at heavyweight for the first time in her career, meaning that unlike her previous match there will be no limits to how much both fighters can weigh.
With such a massive step-up in weight classes, Shields will be met with a steep challenge facing Danielle Perkins who is largely considered one of the best female heavyweights in the world. Despite Perkins’ status as a legitimate world title contender in the heavyweight division, she boasts a unheralded record of 5 fights in total, with only three having actually taken place at heavyweight. However, Perkins has had a credible career in the amateurs, and with the women’s heavyweight division totaling less than two dozen fighters, she is virtually the best fighter available in the division.
Perkins’ age of 42 may work in favor against the 29-year old Shields but with women’s boxing differing from men’s boxing when it comes to the effects of aging, it remains to be seen whether this will be a factor.
The primary factor working against Claressa Shields will be her ability to build up and retain higher weight gains. Due to Perkins’ prior experience as a heavyweight, her best chance for a victory will be to come in as heavy as possible which will pose a multitude of issues for Shields who has yet to weigh in any professional fight above 175 lbs.
The upcoming fight is set to answer a lot of questions regarding whether Shields can carry over her talent and skill to a weight class around 30 pounds higher than her last fight, and will further test Perkins’ experience thus far as a professional fighter―making for a surprisingly intriguing match-up that might be more evenly-matched than initially anticipated.
Further embellishing the fight is the availability of all of the women’s world titles: the WBC, WBO and IBF titles. With the WBA not currently recognizing a women’s heavyweight division, this signals the first-ever undisputed women’s heavyweight match in the history of the sport will occur when the two American fighters step into the ring on February 2nd.
