Tagged: claressa shields

Flint's hometown darling, 17-year old boxer Claressa Shields, will be heading to London this summer to compete for Olympic gold.

The Detroit Free press reports that Shields confirmed the news from  Qinhuangdao, China where she had been competing in the AIBA women's world championships.

From the Freep:

Shields earned her spot into the Games when England's Savannah Marshall -- who defeated Shields in the second round earlier this week -- won her semifinal match today and advanced to the finals of the middleweight division.

Despite her early round loss, the Free Press writes, standings worked in Shields' favor and she earned one of the few Olympic berths from continental America.

Women's boxing will be making it's Olympic debut in London.

-John Klein Wilson, Michigan Radio Newsroom

16 year old Claressa Shields dominated another more experienced fighter in Tuesday's Olympic women's boxing trials.   Shields is now a step closer to her goal of representing the United States at the London Olympics this summer.  

ESPN reports:

Claressa Shields kept up her surprising charge through the middleweight bracket with a 31-12 victory over Andrecia Wasson. The impressive 16-year-old built on her upset of Franchon Crews, the top American 165-pounder, a day earlier.

16 year old Claressa Shields is the youngest fighter trying to win a spot on the U.S. Olympic boxing team.   

She made her case for representing the U.S. in London this summer by defeating the top ranked woman in her weight class last night. 

Here's what the Seattle Spokesman-Review said about Shields performance last night:

The 16-year-old middleweight from Flint, Mich., turned the first U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Women’s Boxing on end Monday night with a dominant performance in upsetting top-seeded Franchon Crews in a crackling highlight to the opening round.

And on a night when nerves seemed to earn a draw in more than a handful of bouts, the youngest competitor among the 24 trying to take the next step to the London Olympics betrayed none.

“I wanted it – I wanted to fight her as soon as I qualified,” said Shields. “She was saying she’s the best, so if she’s the best, I wanted her. Piece of work.”

It’s hardly over for Crews, a five-time national champion. But now she’ll have to fight her way back in the double-elimination event, as only the champions in the three weight classes qualify for the AIBA World Championships in China this May.

A top-eight finish there guarantees fighters a spot in the first Olympic women’s boxing competition in July.

Shields will face another Michigan fighter in her next bout. Centerline's Andrecia Wasson was the 2010 Welterweight World Champion.

 Women will compete for Olympic medals in boxing for the first time this summer.    One of the women training hard for a shot at Olympic boxing gold is a teenager from Flint.

Claressa Shields is 16 years old.  And she is scary good in the boxing ring.  

Shields has won 19 amateur fights. 14 times she’s stopped her opponent by knocking them out. 

On a recent night, I watched as Claressa Shields dominated a male boxer during a sparring match.   He was leaning against the ropes.   His gloves up protecting his head, as Shields repeatedly landed heavy punches into his mid-section.