DETROIT, MI — Claressa Shields capped her historical headlining card with a fourth round stoppage over Szilvia Szabados at the MGM Grand.
What Szabados lacked in skill she made up for with durability and aggression. Shields did most of her damage with hooks to the head, particularly the left hand. Szabados would bull forward into Shields’ chest, but didn’t have the tools needed to take advantage.
The one-sided beating came to an end midway through the fourth when Shields’ left hook counter made Szabados’ neck do an 180. Although Szabados look clear-eyed, referee Harvey Dock thought the punishment was too one-sided and called off the bout.
The win is Shields’ first professional knockout and improves her record to 2-0.
.@Claressashields went to work on Szilvia Szabados and is now 2-0 in her professional career. #ShoBox #Boxing pic.twitter.com/VS2eyFBQ9Q
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) March 11, 2017
Amazing to think that last night was the first time a woman headlined a premium network card. Kudos to Showtime for investing in Claressa Shields. She’s still very raw at the pro level so I hope Showtime is patient enough to let her develop for 10 fights. Her footwork and patience are the two glaring areas. She’s so anxious to bomb gals out that she neglects the body and gets into unnecessary brawling. But at 2-0, her future looks very bright.
Filed under: Fight Reports