Claressa Shields is probably within the prime of her profession, establishing a large enough title as a two-time Olympic gold medalist and world champion in three weight courses to headline the primary boxing card within the six-year historical past of Detroit’s Little Caesars Enviornment.
The undisputed middleweight champion grew to become the primary lady to earn a seven-figure payday in her final two fights and made one other $1 million on Saturday evening when she beat top-ranked contender Maricela Cornejo on the house of the Detroit Crimson Wings and Pistons.
Shields grew up poor in Flint, Michigan, and has earned sufficient cash to change into wealthy at 28. Nonetheless, she laments the gender inequities in boxing.
“We don’t get the equal TV time, the equal promotion, equal pay. And that’s what I’ve been attempting to do with my platform and guarantee that I get all of that,” Shields stated earlier this week in an interview with The Related Press.
Shields is boxing in a marquee occasion partly as a result of sports-streaming service DAZN stepped up sufficient financially to facilitate the struggle.
Ladies in boxing have proven they’ll promote out massive arenas, as Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano did 13 months in the past at New York’s Madison Sq. Backyard, however they’re not compensated in addition to males in the identical sport.
“It’s like every other career the place the ladies nonetheless haven’t caught up,” stated Jackie Kallen, a 77-year-old former boxing publicist and supervisor who was commissioner of the Worldwide Feminine Boxing Affiliation. “They take a beating similar to the boys. They bleed similar to the boys, however they don’t receives a commission similar to the boys.”
Shields is 13-0 with two knockouts. She turned professional in 2016 after changing into the primary U.S. boxer of any gender to win consecutive Olympic gold medals and is averaging two fights a yr.
Shields is also on a mission to be acknowledged because the “Best Lady Of All Time,” or the “GWOAT,” now and sooner or later.
“Those that say that girls’s boxing don’t have followers, properly, they’re going to be mad Saturday,” she stated.
Read the full article here
