Shields makes commanding middleweight return, sets sights on Price
Claressa Shields dominated Kaye Scott on Sunday in Atlanta, stopping her in the sixth round to reclaim the WBA and WBC middleweight titles. Wales' Lauren Price is now a potential next opponent.
American boxer Claressa Shields made an emphatic return to the middleweight division on Sunday, stopping Australia's Kaye Scott in the sixth round in Atlanta to reclaim the WBA and WBC titles.
It was Shields' first fight at middleweight since 2023, having dropped three weight classes for the bout. Her opponent, 42-year-old Scott, was fighting only her eighth professional contest and was clearly outmatched in experience.
Shields controlled the fight from the opening bell, using superior hand speed and accuracy, and weakened Scott with a series of body shots in the fifth round. In the sixth, a powerful left hook drove Scott onto the ropes, and when she could no longer defend herself as the action resumed, her corner threw in the towel to stop the contest.
The win extended Shields' professional record to 19-0 and marked her fourth career victory by stoppage. The 31-year-old, an Olympic gold medallist in 2012 and 2016, described the training camp as one of the toughest of her career, having cut 38 pounds over 14 weeks, going from 198 down to 160 pounds.
Eyes on Price
Following the win, Shields named Wales' Lauren Price, the reigning welterweight champion, as her preferred next opponent for December or January. Should that fight not materialise, she said she would welcome a matchup with either fellow American Mikaela Mayer or Canada's Tamm Thiebault, who holds the IBF, WBO and Ring middleweight titles. Shields argued that the Ring belt, despite Thiebault's relatively limited professional experience, rightfully belongs to her.
