Detroit Masonic Temple, Detroit, Michigan - Two-time Olympic gold medal winner Claressa Shields (3-0, 1 KO) won an eight round unanimous decision over Sydney LeBlanc (4-2-1) to capture the WBC silver super middleweight championship.
The fight was a one-sided contest with all three judges tabbing the bout 80-72 in favor of Shields.
Shields was originally slated to face Mery Rancier (7-8-3, 5 KOs) of the Dominic Republic, but that fight was called off when Rancier had an issue with her visa and was unable to travel to the United States in time for the fight.
Shields, 22 years old, wants to face the best possible boxers in the sport. She recently signed a promotional deal with Salita Promotions.
“I always tell my promoter (Salita Promotions) that I want the girls with the (zeroes) on their records like Tori Nelson, (World Boxing Council super middleweight champion) Nikki Adler and (WBC middleweight champion) Christina Hammer because I feel I have the skills to beat them,” said Shields to the Detroit Free Press.
“Maybe they feel like I need more professional experience and longer fights first, but I would go anywhere to fight them today.”
Shields captured the North American Boxing Federation middleweight title with a fourth-round technical knockout of Szilvia Szabados in March.
Also on the card, cruiserweight prospect Alexey Zubov (15-1, 9 KOs) boxed his way to win a ten round unanimous decision over undefeated Demetrius Banks (9-1, 4 KOs). All three judges had it 99-91.
Welterweight prospect Bakhtiyar Eyubov (13-0, 11 KOs) dropped overmatched Cesar Soriano (27-36-1, 16 KOs) three times in a one-sided first round destruction.
