Claressa Shields reclaims WBC and WBA middleweight titles with sixth-round stoppage of Kaye Scott

Claressa Shields returned to middleweight and reclaimed the WBC and WBA titles by stopping Kaye Scott in the sixth round on Saturday night at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Shields dropped down from heavyweight for her first fight at 160lbs since 2023 and forced the finish at 1:38 after Scott’s corner threw in multiple towels.

Shields, 19-0 (4 KOs), had promised to “destroy” Scott in the build-up and boxed with unusual emphasis on heavy, planted shots from the opening bell. The 31-year-old from Flint, Michigan, marked Scott’s forehead early, with the Australian carrying a significant swelling as Shields took control with superior speed, accuracy and variety.

Scott, 5-2-1, was making the first defence of the belts she won against Olivia Curry in December and showed the toughness that had been expected of a fighter with more than 120 international amateur bouts. The 42-year-old from Sydney tried to answer in exchanges and had a stronger fifth round when she forced Shields to the ropes for a sustained spell, but Shields worked effectively to the body from that position and finished the round back in centre ring.

 The end came in the sixth, when Shields landed a hard left hook and follow-up right hand that sent Scott down in her own corner. Referee Joel Scobie allowed the bout to continue, but Shields immediately resumed the attack and Scott’s corner intervened before further damage could be done.

Shields later said the weight cut had shaped her approach. “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 got down to 160. It was the most disciplined I’ve been since the Olympics, I feel like.”

Although she had pressed aggressively throughout, Shields denied that she had been chasing a knockout from the start. “I was actually trying to figure her out,” she said. “She was stronger than what I thought. And with me cutting the weight I cut, I didn’t want to exert too much early… I’m not as strong (at 160) as I feel at 175. I started going to her body and breaking her down… When I started going to the body and seeing that my right hand was landing, I’m like, ‘She’s ready to go.’”

The result made Shields a middleweight champion for a third time. She had previously held the WBA and WBC belts before giving them up while moving to heavyweight, where she became undisputed, and her four previous fights had been at heavyweight, including a unanimous decision over Franchon Crews-Dezurn in February.

Price and Thibeault in view

The win immediately reopened the question of Shields’ next move at 160lbs. Lauren Price has agreed to move up to middleweight to face Shields, although contracts have not been signed, and Shields has said she wants that fight between December and January.

Shields also mentioned new unified IBF and WBO middleweight champion Tamm Thibeault as a possible opponent, saying, “She (Thibeault) got the rest of three belts. She only had one big fight in the professionals, but she got belts. It’s not my fault these girls don’t have the experience that I have. But hey, she got a belt that I know belongs to me, and that’s the Ring belt. I’ve always been number one at 160, and when I decide to come back down to 160, that automatically makes me number one.”

Shields’ promoter Dmitriy Salita positioned the Price fight as the bigger immediate commercial play, telling Sky Sports, “Claressa came down to middleweight to make the biggest fights possible. We want to make this a mega-event, and I believe that fight belongs in the United States. That being said, we love the UK, and another fight there is certainly not out of the question. It’s an incredible time for women’s boxing.”

Isley takes decision in co-main

In the co-main event, Troy Isley, 17-0 (6 KOs), stayed unbeaten with a unanimous decision over Joseph Hicks, 12-2 (7 KOs), by scores of 97-92, 96-93 and 96-93. Hicks started well from range and hurt Isley with a right hand in the second, before Isley answered with his own right in the third and took over as Hicks slowed in the second half.

The fight carried tension from the weigh-in into the ring, with referee Antonio Mohan warning both men before the fourth after an ugly takedown late in the third. Isley was deducted a point in the fifth for kidney punching, but he continued to press forward and bank rounds down the stretch before the two former amateur friends appeared to settle their differences in the ring afterwards.

Elsewhere on the main card, Ashleyann Lozada won the WBA Women’s Gold junior-featherweight title with a dominant decision over Paulette Cuesta, while Bernice Ferreira claimed the WBC junior-lightweight title and defended her IBO belt when Caroline Veyre was disqualified in the eighth after repeated warnings and two point deductions for holding.

Shields’ return to middleweight now leaves her team to choose between pursuing the Price event or moving towards a further unification with Thibeault. With no Price contract yet signed and Thibeault holding the remaining major middleweight belts, negotiations will determine whether Shields’ next fight is built around a crossover event or another attempt to consolidate the division.