Claressa Shields completed a remarkable descent from heavyweight to middleweight, stopping Australia’s Kaye Scott in the sixth round to capture the WBA and WBC titles in a fight that went off early Sunday morning at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
The five-division world champion and double Olympic gold medalist dominated her outclassed opponent from the opening bell before dropping Scott in the sixth and overwhelming her against the ropes after the action resumed. With the 42-year-old champion unable to defend herself from another sustained barrage, Scott’s corner threw several towels into the ring and the contest was waved off after 1min 38sec.
The victory improved Shields’s professional record to 19-0 with four knockouts while Scott fell to 5-2-1. It also returned the 31-year-old American to championship status at 160lb, a division she had previously ruled as undisputed champion before moving through light-heavyweight and into the heavyweight ranks.
Shields, who remains the undisputed heavyweight champion, had not fought at middleweight since defeating Maricela Cornejo in June 2023. Her promoter billed her as only the second heavyweight champion in more than 120 years to win a world title in a lower division.
The anticipated effects of that dramatic weight loss never materialized against Scott, a decorated amateur who entered the paid ranks at 39 as she approached the IBA’s upper age limit, yet remained a significant underdog in only her eighth professional bout.
After the first bell sounded around 12.30am local time, Shields spent the opening rounds taking the Sydneysider’s measure before steadily increasing the tempo. Her hand speed and accuracy repeatedly allowed her to land first and escape Scott’s counters, while a sustained body attack drained the champion as the fight progressed.
Scott remained willing but was increasingly outgunned. After stacking an advantage on the scorecards, Shields began sitting down on her punches in the fifth and ended the contest one round later, blasting Scott backwards with a left hook before pinning her against the ropes. The ropes held Scott up, prompting a count, and her corner intervened moments after the restart, sealing only Shields’s second stoppage win in nine years.
“It was a hard camp,” Shields said. “I always tell myself that everything is easy work, but it was a really hard camp. I cut 38 pounds. I started 14 weeks ago at 198 and then I got down to 160. It was the most disciplined I’ve been since the Olympics, I feel like.”
Shields insisted she had not entered the ring intent on forcing an early stoppage, mindful that the weight cut could affect her stamina and punch resistance.
“I was actually just trying to figure her out,” she said. “She was stronger than what I thought. She was very strong. I knew that, with me cutting the weight that I cut, I didn’t want to exert too much early.
“I was trying to make sure I could deal with her strength and not get caught with nothing crazy, because I’m not as strong as I feel at 175.”
The bout was the first women’s headliner in State Farm Arena history and marked Shields’s first fight outside of Michigan since 2022. Asked about performing before a crowd of around 16,000 spectators, Shields said: “I knew I could [draw a big crowd]. Atlanta loves Black excellence just like Detroit. I came out here and showed why I am pound-for-pound No 1.”
Shields named fellow Olympic champion Lauren Price of Britain as her preferred next opponent at 160lb and said she hoped the fight could be staged in December or January. She also raised the possibility of facing Mikaela Mayer or pursuing undisputed status at middleweight against Canada’s Tammara Thibeault, who won the IBF, WBO and Ring titles in her fifth professional fight last weekend in Orlando.
“She’s only had five fights as a professional, but she’s got belts,” Shields said of Thibeault. “It’s not my fault these girls don’t have the experience that I have. She’s got a belt that I know belongs to me – and that’s the Ring belt.”