We analyse the credentials and statistics of Claressa Shields and Danielle Perkins as the pair get set to contest a hugely intriguing undisputed heavyweight title showdown in Michigan, USA in the early hours of Sunday 2nd February, 2025.
In men’s boxing, heavyweight is the marquee weight class; one with a storied history, featuring some of the biggest names to have graced the sport.
That is not the case for female fighters, because beyond middleweight, the talent pool becomes awfully shallow.
However, Claressa Shields is hoping to change that.
In July last year, the self-proclaimed ‘Greatest Woman of All-Time’ captured the WBC and WBO straps, and in early February, she will bid to become undisputed heavyweight champion of the world against the vastly experienced Danielle Perkins.
Shields is odds-on to maintain her unbeaten record, but it is important she wins in style to further stake her claim to be consider the pound-for-pound best female boxer on the planet.
Perkins has a significant size advantage, but were she to be victorious, it would be considered the upset of the year.
Who will prevail?
Let’s have a look at the 'Tale of the Tape'…
Claressa Shields | Danielle Perkins | |
Age: | 29 | 42 |
Nickname: | 'T-Rex' | 'New Era' |
Height: | 5ft 8 ins | 6ft 0 ins |
Reach: | 68" | 72" |
Weight: | Heavyweight | Heavyweight |
Trainer: | John David Jackson | Darnell Pierce |
Record: | 15-0 (3 KOs) | 5-0 (2 KOs) |
Last Fight: | W – (TKO2) v Vanessa Lepange-Joanisse (July 2024) | W – (UD6) v Christianne Fahey (July 2023) |
If Claressa Shields is not the ‘Greatest Woman of All-time’ in boxing, she’s not far off it.
She has only suffered one loss as an amateur of professional and has racked up an impressive list of accomplishments: two-time Olympic champion, two-time amateur World Champion gold medallist, unified super-middleweight titlist, undisputed middleweight queen, undisputed light-middleweight champion, and unified heavyweight title holder.
Despite her achievements, the 29-year-old’s refusal or inability to drop to welterweight has resulted her record lacking the depth of some of her pound-for-pound rivals.
While she has not had many defining bouts, the fights she has had, she has handled comfortably.
The heavyweight division is unlikely to produce an opponent capable of testing ‘T-rex.’ As women’s boxing is in its infancy as an elite sport, many divisions do not have strength in depth; this problem is exacerbated in heavier classes.
For example, the WBC constitute anything over 168lbs to be heavyweight, which is the men’s super-middleweight limit.
Shields is aiming to become the first woman to become undisputed in three weight classes as she looks to add the WBA and IBF straps to the WBC and WBO versions already in her possession.
While Perkins possesses significant height, reach and weight advantages, the gulf in talent is far greater.
Expect another Shields Masterclass.
Strengths | Weaknesses |
Timing | Can stay in range too long |
Counter-punching | Gets backed into corner |
Ring-IQ | Lack of knockout power |
Shot selection |
A five-fight novice taking on, arguably, the greatest female fight ever may seem ridiculous, and it is.
However, scratch the surface, and the match-up is not quite as nonsensical as it looks at first glance.
Perkins may only have taken up boxing in 2014, two years after Shields captured her first Olympic gold medal, but she is a natural athlete.
'New Era’ played college basketball for five years in the early 2000s, and the physique you would expect of someone with that background.
The 42-year-old has a four-inch advantage in both height and reach over her rival.
Perkins is also the naturally bigger woman. Shields weighed just 175lb when she won the heavyweight titles, whereas Perkins has been as heavy as 198lbs in the ring.
The Brooklyn-based boxer is not without some ability; she claimed bronze at the 2018 World Championships, before capturing gold the following year. The caveat has to be added that she faced limited opposition.
Ultimately, this fight has come both too late and too soon for Perkins.
At this age, she is in physical decline, having never been beyond the eighth-round.
Size matters, but talent matters more.
Strengths | Weaknesses |
Height, weight and reach advantages | Inexperienced |
Jab | Moves back in straight lines |
Hand speed | Keeps her chin in the air |