Claressa Shields Defeats Hanna Gabriels & Christina Hammer Wins Over Tori Nelson – Breaking Boxing News
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By Joshua “City” Brewer
Showtime was live with a broadcast in Detroit, Michigan, which featured two time Olympic Gold Medalist Claressa Shields, 6-0, 2 KO’s, in a middleweight title clash with Hanna Gabriels, 18-2-1, 11 KO’s. Shields was coming down from super middleweight, Gabriels up from junior middleweight. Vacant WBA and IBF world female middleweight titles were up for grabs.
The first round was very tense early as both showed their moxy and looked to land big shots. During an exchange, Gabriels dropped shields with a right uppercut followed by a left hook during the latter part of the round, the first knockdown of Shields career. In the second they both picked up where they left off throwing bombs during exchanges. Shields landed a snapping left hook near the minute mark before seeing success later on with the same punch. Gabriels was in retreat towards the final seconds.
Claressa landed three straight right hooks with snap during the third. Gabriels landed a solid left during the final seconds but Shields seemingly did enough to win the round. Shields continued to fight off of the front foot in the fourth as she started to establish the pace of the fight in her favor. Gabriels employed a more defensive posture as she used backwards and lateral movement. Both landed nice shots during exchanges in the fifth, each with their own form of authority. Shields closed the round well as Gabriels tied up. Claressa used the emotions of the crowd as fuel during the sixth as she tried to force Gabriels into a slugfest. Shields landed her best punches of the round and fight during the last 10 seconds of the round.
During the seventh, Shields landed heavy shots during an exchange and looked as though she was pressing for the kill. Gabriels was able to maintain long enough to find success during the latter part of the round and close strong. Shields had a solid eight round though there was a head clash as each fighter was leaning in. Gabriels seemed to find a second win midway through the ninth as she picked up the pace, landing shots. Both fighters landed but Gabriels was the busier puncher during the round. In the 10th and final round neither fighter disappointed. Both understood the urgency and looked to take the round. Shields was cut on the left cheek after the fighters clashed heads once again. They each finished strong in a fight that most certainly delivered. When it was all official, the judges saw it as 97-92,(twice) and 98-91, giving Shields the unanimous decision victory and two titles.
The new unification fight that needs to happen is Shields Vs Hammer. 2018 will be that much greater for the sport of boxing if this fight materializes. During the post fight interviews it got intense as Hammer entered the ring and was approached by Shields who was looking to fight right then and there. Security had to step in to ensure that the two teams didn’t come to blows. Drama!
WBC and WBO world female middleweight champion Christina Hammer, 23-0-0, 1 NC, 10 KO’s, took on Tori Nelson, 17-2-3, 2 KO’s in the co-feature bout. Hammer controlled the first round with relative ease using her long jab as the pace setter. Hammer started to pour it on in round three landing a number of combinations as Nelson unsuccessfully staked forward looking to land overhand rights. Sensing the need to close the gap, Nelson started to pick up her activity through the middle round though she found little success. Hammer continued to use her reach to her advantage maintaining correct distance on the outside which allowed for her to throw accurate shots that left Nelson winging. In the closing round Hammer was to fend off a still game Nelson and coast to a relatively easy unanimous decision victory and successful defense of her titles.
The judges officially saw it as 100-90 and 99-91(twice). For all of the effort provided, Nelson essentially showed that while she’s one of the more tougher fighters in women’s boxing but is very limited at the elite level. At 41, it may be time to ride off in the sunset.
Umar Salamov, 21-1, 16 KO’s, opened up the telecast with an eight round stoppage of Brian Howard 13-2, 10 KO’s. The fight was uneventful for the majority of the rounds but Salamov landed an emphatic right hook that sent Howard down once, which was all he needed. Another night, another eye towards future great matchups.
Stay tuned…
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