Claressa Shields is scheduled to defend the undisputed women’s heavyweight championship against Franchon Crews-Dezurn on February 22. The self-proclaimed “GWOAT,” or Greatest Woman of All Time, Shields has not only been undisputed in three weight classes and won titles in two others, but she’s also one of just 25 boxers to win at least two Olympic gold medals.

Of those 25 people to stand atop the podium multiple times, 13 have fought professionally. Some concluded their careers long ago while others are just getting started. This article will attempt to analyze their professional resumes and provide a ranking based solely on success and achievements within the paid ranks, not on what they accomplished as amateurs.

Before we get to the rankings, here are the 12 boxers who acquired multiple Olympic gold medals but never fought professionally:

  • Harry Mallin, Great Britain (1920 Middleweight, 1924 Middleweight)
  • Jerzy Kulej, Poland (1964 Light Welterweight, 1968 Light Welterweight)
  • Boris Lagutin, Soviet Union (1964 Light Middleweight, 1968 Light Middleweight)
  • Teófilo Stevenson, Cuba (1972 Heavyweight, 1976 Heavyweight, 1980 Heavyweight)
  • Ángel Herrera, Cuba (1976 Featherweight, 1980 Lightweight)
  • Héctor Vinent, Cuba (1992 Light Welterweight, 1996 Light Welterweight)
  • Ariel Hernández, Cuba (1992 Middleweight, 1996 Middleweight)
  • Félix Savón, Cuba (1992 Heavyweight, 1996 Heavyweight, 2000 Heavyweight)
  • Oleg Saitov, Russia (1996 Welterweight, 2000 Welterweight)
  • Mario Kindelán, Cuba (2000 Lightweight, 2004 Lightweight)
  • Aleksei Tishchenko, Russia (2004 Featherweight, 2008 Lightweight)
  • Kellie Harrington, Ireland (2020 Lightweight, 2024 Lightweight)

Here is what the 13 who turned professional went on to accomplish:

13. Oliver Kirk, United States (1904 Bantamweight, 1904 Featherweight)

Oliver Kirk has one of the more fascinating statistics, as he won a total of two matches to capture two gold medals in two separate weight classes in the same Olympic games (bantamweight and featherweight in 1904). 

“There were only two boxers in the bantamweight class, and three in the featherweight class, with Kirk earning the bye in the featherweight class,” BoxRec says.

BoxRec lists his official professional record at 2-9 (2 KOs), meaning he has as many official professional wins as Olympic gold medals. There are another 10 bouts listed on his resume, where he went 3-4-3 in newspaper decisions.

Suffice to say, Kirk benefited from some favorable circumstances as an amateur to capture Olympic gold twice. His professional career was not as fortunate and simply cannot be called successful given his losing records in both official and newspaper decision matches.

12. Roniel Iglesias, Cuba (2012 Light Welterweight, 2020 Welterweight)

Roniel Iglesias compiled a 4-0 (3 KOs) record between May 2022 and November 2023 against opposition with a combined 51-41-9 record. He also had five “IBA Pro” bouts, which BoxRec lists separately, going 2-3 (0 KOs), including a sixth-round TKO loss to 2024 Olympic welterweight silver medalist Marco Verde. Iglesias has not challenged for a title or fought against anyone particularly noteworthy thus far.

11. Julio César La Cruz, Cuba (2016 Light Heavyweight, 2020 Heavyweight)

Julio César La Cruz has also built a 4-0 (4 KOs) record and has not challenged for a title belt so far. While his opposition has a combined 78-28 record, none of his opponents are household names. However, some of these opponents have fought against name opponents, so he gets the slight nod over Iglesias. He is also 1-1 (0 KOs) in IBA Pro bouts.

10. Arlen López, Cuba (2016 Middleweight, 2020 Light Heavyweight)

Arlen López, 6-0 (2 KOs), has been a little more active than Iglesias and La Cruz. His opposition has a combined record of 114-47-4, but he does have a couple of former prospects on his resume. The narrow edge in activity and quality of opposition earned him the 10th spot on this list. Lopez is also 2-2 (2 KOs) in IBA Pro bouts, losing decisions to Imam Khataev and Gradus Kraus.

9. Hasanboy Dusmatov, Uzbekistan (2016 Light Flyweight, 2024 Flyweight)

Hasanboy Dusmatov currently sports a 7-0 (5 KOs) record and has yet to challenge for a title. His opposition has a combined 80-28-8 record. Without much to separate fighters in this tier, Dusmatov places higher than the Cuban trio listed above due to activity and slight edge in quality of opposition. He is also 2-0 (0 KOs) in IBA Pro bouts.

8. Bakhodir Jalolov, Uzbekistan (2020 Super Heavyweight, 2024 Super Heavyweight)

At 16-0 (14 KOs), Bakhodir Jalolov has also won every professional bout he has competed in. His opposition has a combined record of 139-71-15, although 32 of those losses came from two opponents, which raises the overall quality of his record if those bouts are excluded. It is not immediately clear whether Jalolov is fully dedicated to the professional ranks or if he is treading water until the 2028 Olympics. Regardless, he is ranked above the Cuban trio and Dusmatov based on his significant edge in professional activity.

7. Shiming Zou, China (2008 Light Flyweight, 2012 Light Flyweight)

Shiming Zou entered professional boxing with significant hype as he began campaigning in the flyweight division. After winning his first six bouts, including a lopsided win over a 28-0-2 Kwanpichit Onesongchaigym, Zou unsuccessfully challenged Amnat Ruenroeng for the IBF flyweight belt.

Three fights later, he challenged for the vacant WBO flyweight title against none other than Onesongchaigym. Given the one-sided nature of their first fight, it was little surprise Shiming was successful in his second attempt to win a world title.

Zou only fought once more, losing his belt to the 14-1-2 Sho Kimura in 2017. Similar to Nicola Adams, eye injuries forced Zou to retire early with a 9-2 (2 KOs) record. The circumstances of Zou’s title win against an undeserving opponent he had already handily beaten penalizes him in these rankings.

6. Nicola Adams, United Kingdom (2012 Flyweight, 2016 Flyweight)

Nicola Adams had a rather short professional career, finishing with a 5-0-1 (3 KOs) record, but she did manage to win an interim flyweight world title in 2018, and she was elevated to full champion shortly after. Sadly, she suffered a major eye injury in her first defense in 2019, which ended in a draw.

Unfortunately for her, that eye injury resulted in her retirement. Although she fought fewer fights than some of the fighters ranked below her, Adams’ place on this list is elevated by winning a major title and retiring undefeated.

5. Robeisy Ramírez, Cuba (2012 Flyweight, 2016 Bantamweight)

Robeisy Ramírez began his professional career with high expectations but stumbled out of the gate, losing a split decision in his debut against an unknown opponent. Ramírez regrouped and won 11 in a row, including avenging the loss in his professional debut, setting himself up for a shot at a vacant featherweight belt against former junior featherweight titlist Isaac Dogboe.

Ramírez emerged victorious and successfully defended his belt once before squaring off against Rafael Espinoza in December 2023. In a fight of the year candidate where both fighters hit the deck, it was Espinoza who triumphed with a majority decision and the world title.

Ramírez won a comeback bout to set up a rematch against Espinoza in December 2024. The second fight was competitive into the sixth round, ending unexpectedly when Ramírez was caught flush and turned his back, citing double vision.

He has been out of the ring for more than a year, so it remains to be seen what is next for a fighter who is only 32 years old. Ramírez currently owns a 14-3 (9 KOs) record and is elevated above Zou and Adams in these rankings due to the quality of opposition and having a successful title defense.

4. László Papp, Hungary (1948 Middleweight, 1952 Light Middleweight, 1956 Light Middleweight)

László Papp was by far the hardest boxer to place on this list. He was legitimately the only professional Hungarian boxer at the time, as his success in the amateur ranks was so overwhelming that the communist Hungarian government made an exception in his case. However, he was confined to fighting in Europe from 1957-1964, at a time when almost every champion was based in North America.

Papp ended his professional career with a 27-0-2 (15 KOs) record. Although he never challenged for a world title, he peaked at second in The Ring’s middleweight rankings from October to December 1963, which was enough to place him over the previous three fighters on this list who held world titles, but quickly lost them after. Papp was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2001, two years before he died at the age of 77.

3. Guillermo Rigondeaux, Cuba (2000 Bantamweight, 2004 Bantamweight)

Guillermo Rigondeaux quickly built a 6-0 record against low-level opposition before stepping up in competition in 2010 against the 37-2-2 Ricardo Cordoba, who had been in with the best and given a good account of himself each time. Rigondeaux won a split decision over Cordoba, but did so in a style that was considered less than crowd-pleasing. The victory earned Rigondeaux the WBA’s interim title at 122lbs.

Two fights later, Rigondeaux challenged Rico Ramos in 2012 for the primary version of the WBA junior featherweight title, winning by sixth-round knockout. Rigondeaux made two successful defenses, setting up a unification showdown against a pound-for-pound-rated Nonito Donaire in 2013. Although the popular prediction was Donaire’s speed would win the day, it was Rigondeaux’s counterpunching that led him to a unanimous decision that seemed closer than the action in the ring.

Rigondeaux defended his belts several more times, although his fighting style continued to be panned and briefly left him without stateside television coverage for his fights. He booked a match in 2017 with fellow double Olympic gold medalist Vasiliy Lomachenko two divisions north. Rigondeaux was outmatched and ultimately retired from the fight, citing a hand injury. 

He has continued to fight on, even dipping down to bantamweight, winning a secondary WBA belt against Liborio Solis and then losing a split decision at the age of 40 to John Riel Casimero in a WBO title fight. Rigondeaux last fought in late 2024; his record currently stands at 23-3 (16 KOs).

2. Vasiliy Lomachenko, Ukraine (2008 Featherweight, 2012 Lightweight)

After six bouts in the semi-pro World Series of Boxing, Vasiliy Lomachenko’s professional career began with a fourth-round knockout against a fighter with a 25-3 record. He then challenged rough, tough Orlando Salido for his version of the featherweight title in 2014.

The deck was stacked against Lomachenko in his first title shot from the get-go, as Salido came in with a 54-fight edge in professional experience, entered the ring more than two pounds overweight, and resorted to many questionable tactics throughout the fight. Even with all those disadvantages, Lomachenko won the fight on one judge’s scorecard but had to settle for a split decision loss.

He was rewarded for his effort with another shot at the same title belt, now vacant due to Salido missing weight. His opponent was undefeated U.S. Olympian Gary Russell Jnr, who entered with a 24-0 record. Lomachenko broke through this time and won a featherweight title via majority decision. He defended his belt three times before moving up to 130 pounds.

Lomachenko picked up a junior lightweight belt against Roman Martinez in 2016 and successfully defended it three times, including against undefeated former titlist Nicholas Walters. He then decided to move up to lightweight.

Despite being small for the lightweight division, Lomachenko quickly collected three belts, beating Jorge Linares, José Pedraza, Anthony Crolla and Luke Campbell in his first four fights in the division. He suffered a surprise loss against Teófimo López in his next fight in 2020, and lost again against Devin Haney by close decision four fights later in 2023. However, Lomachenko ended his career on a high note, defeating George Kambosos Jnr to win a lightweight title in 2024. That was Lomachenko’s final fight. He retired last year, concluding his career with an 18-3 (12 KOs) record.

1. Claressa Shields, United States (2012 Middleweight, 2016 Middleweight)

Claressa Shields has convincingly won every professional bout she has fought. With just three KOs in 17 fights, Shields is not a knockout puncher.  But in her 14 decision wins, she has lost a total of 28 rounds,  an average of just two rounds lost per bout. Shields has only tasted the canvas once.

Shields has won titles in five divisions, including being undisputed at middleweight (twice), junior middleweight and heavyweight. She has a level of dominance that matches or likely eclipses Floyd Mayweather Jnr in his prime. The primary differences between the two are that Mayweather spent significant time in each division he fought, with some softer touches between tough fights, and there is much more depth in men’s boxing than in the women’s divisions Shields competes in. This is why Shields seems to move to a weight class, immediately target everyone at the top level, handily beat all of them, and then move to a new division to rinse and repeat.

Shields even avenged her sole amateur loss to Savannah Marshall, taking a unanimous decision when they met in the professional ranks at middleweight in 2022. Shields’ next fight, against Franchon Crews-Dezurn, is also a rematch. The first time these two squared off was in November 2016 in both women’s pro debuts. Typically, blue-chip prospects like Shields do not make their debut against opponents who end up challenging for world titles in the future.

Shields is making a rather indisputable case that she is the best woman to ever set foot in a boxing ring. She amassed a 77-1 amateur record en route to capturing Olympic gold twice. Her professional record is somehow far more impressive.