Undisputed Middleweight World Champion and boxing superstar Claressa “GWOAT” Shields held a media workout in Detroit to discuss her Saturday, July 27, rise of two weight classes to challenge for a world title in a fourth division against WBC Women’s Heavyweight World Champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse of Quebec, Canada.
The vacant WBO Light Heavyweight Championship will also be on the line on July 27, as both main event fighters aim to unify 175-pound titles in a very special edition of “Big Time Boxing USA” at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit that will air live on premier global sports platform DAZN.
Shields (14-0, 2 KOs) and Lepage-Joanisse (7-1, 2 KOs) will headline a blockbuster night of boxing presented by Salita Promotions and 313 Presents at downtown Detroit’s world-class venue and home of the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons.
Tickets for the July 27 event are on sale now and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com and the XFINITY Box Office at Little Caesars Arena.
Here is what Shields and her promoter, Dmitriy Salita, had to say today from the Downtown Boxing Gym in Detroit:
CLARESSA SHIELDS
“I feel like some things only happen once in a lifetime, and so I’m happy that Little Caesars Arena has given me the opportunity again. To be given the opportunity here in Detroit at one of the biggest venues here, I feel honored and privileged and humbled. I just can’t wait to show what I can do at heavyweight, represent Detroit and Michigan and Flint, and keep bringing Big Time Boxing back to Detroit.”
“I want to go down in history as the ‘Beyonce of Boxing;’ the ‘Serena Williams of Boxing.’ I feel like I’m unstoppable when it comes to a fight and there’s always going to be fireworks, because it they (her opponents) don’t start the party, I will.”
“Regardless of the weight class, I haven’t seen any girl be tough enough, be skilled enough, defensively or offensively, to beat me. I’m willing to go wherever I need to go to give all these girls a chance, so I can keep proving them wrong. You guys have got the tapes, you’ve been studying me all these years, and you still can’t beat me.”
On Also Fighting in MMA:
“I think what makes me so powerful within this combat sport is that I always think positive. I prepare as best I can, I get in there and I fight, and I win. I don’t really think about all the bad things that could happen to me, because that can disrupt what I’m trying to do. I think about being a bad person and doing those bad things.”
DMITRIY SALITA
On why Shields chose to fight Joanisse:
“If you look at the great boxing champions from the state of Michigan and the city of Detroit, people like Floyd Mayweather, Tommy Hearns, they took on the biggest and the best challengers. That is what Claressa is doing, too.”
“She’s also bringing boxing back to Detroit. This will be her second show at Little Caesars Arena, which is one of the most beautiful venues for boxing in the United States.”
“Some athletes, when you see them on TV, seem unreal. Claressa is real. She lives just 30 miles away from Detroit. She’s Michigan-made and has a really incredible story. And in today’s day and age, when women’s empowerment is at the forefront, Claressa is at the head driving that message.”
(Media Note: The 175-pound weight limit is titled heavyweight by the WBC and Light Heavyweight by the WBO.)
