Claressa Maria Shields vs. Marie-Ève Dicaire & Timur Sarabievich Kerefov vs. Maney Sherrod Woods RBR

"The Golden Retriever" (Marie-Ève, please, get a different ring name...) has "just happy to be here" written all over here face.

Head is leaning TKO for Shields within 5-6. Heart of course wants Dicaire to shock the world.

 

Debatable - if Kerefov ends up being an even halfway decent prospect (jury's still out) his developmental fight will probably have mattered in hindsight more than another mismatch for the Predator-looking weight bully with sub-Broner-tier trash-talking skills.

 

Round 1

Dicaire is patiently dropping in light southpaw jabs, keeping a careful distance and not allowing Shields to score with the much shorter left. Quick glance at BoxRec, and yep, Dicaire has a three inch reach advantage - looks to my eye like it could even be more, but that's possibly down to Shields bunching her arms up like a T-rex and only hacking with her jab rather than straightening it at full extension. Shields clips her with a right hand at the halfway point but Dicaire takes it well and counters with a left cross of her own before abandoning the brief exchange with some quick footwork and getting back on her jab.

10-9 Dicaire, close

 

Round 2

Dicaire is pecking with the jab in multiples and carefully zipping outside when she needs to preserve the space between them, at least two full paces for Shields to march in and score a power shot, by which time Dicaire has usually bounced away lightly on her toes. Shields does manage to cut inside and chop her with a heavy downward right across the point of the chin, but Dicaire moves with it and repositions herself before popping more jabs - although unfortunately they're mostly churning air, with Dicaire now shy about committing any closer than mid-range.

10-9 Shields

19-19