Middleweight Claressa Shields defeated Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands on Sunday, August 21 in Rio to become the first American boxer to retain her Olympic title.
Advertisement
In Rio, just before the fight, Shields paced in her corner, coiled with energy, staring Fontijn down. “We are Flint strong and sometimes we’ve gotten a bad rap but we are very resilient, we are proud of our city and we are fighters and she exemplifies all of that”, says Weaver. So yesterday, I made sure that I ate two or three whole meals. Shields had beaten her two months ago for the world championship, and at that time, Shields had an injured hand and shoulder.
Right after the bout, she told NBC her strategy was “just to be smart, use my jab, and land the right hand when I could, and not get touched by those long arms she had, and I did it!”
For eight years, Crutchfield guided her through every punch.
It should be pointed out that Powerade is one of her sponsors. Only two other women in history have won Olympic gold in boxing, which happened in 2012 when women’s competition boxing was included in the Olympics for the first time.
Shields looks to be having fun as she shut down the once chanting audience in favor of Fontijn. “When I thought about it, the day before my last fight I didn’t eat, I didn’t drink the right way. I just want to help people, and I want to help them because what I grew up with and what I had to overcome was hard, but look where I am now”.
Despite her winning a gold medal, Shields returned to home only to find that all the prestigious brands shied away from her. Shields say it’s because she does not fit their image of a traditional woman. So I was like, you know what?
As Flint tries to claw its way out of tough times with the water crisis, it sees a lot of parallels with Shields’ boxing. The Rio 2016 women’s boxing middleweight semifinals take place on August 19 and HollywoodLife.com wants you to see every punch!
On the podium, after the medal was slipped around her neck, she reached into her pocket, pulled out her gold medal from the 2012 London Games and draped that one over her head, too. She described her fight as a “C-minus performance”, adding, “I’m trying to get A-plus in all my fights”.
“You have to go in there and seal the deal”, she said. “I woke up today and my body was feeling great”. “Oh my god, I can’t believe I just said that”.
She jumped up and down, yelling encouragement, while sharing the moment on Facebook Live as her big sister Claressa Shields competed at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Because I remember when I was one of those kids who didn’t have any hope.
As a child, she was molested and raped, but “channeled all that anger into boxing, and that’s why I’m so successful at it”, she told ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue 2016. Her father was in prison for most of her childhood, and she had no bed and often no food at home.
Advertisement
Even still, she’s the favorite to win gold at Rio, and she continues to push for glory, fist over fist. Kirk won by decision and was awarded his second Olympic gold medal in the same day.
