American T-Rex Claressa Shields needed only two rounds to finish off WBC heavyweight champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse.
Last night, in the ring at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, the fight between the two fighters ended quickly with the referee declaring a technical KO against the Canadian just over a minute into the second round.
There wasn’t much to see in the ring, but it was enough for the 29-year-old from Flint to take home yet another title—actually, multiple titles, as besides the heavyweight belt, the vacant WBO light heavyweight title was also at stake. These trophies add to her collection of four belts in the middleweight and super welterweight categories.
The first round was almost entirely a study phase, but it picked up towards the end with Shields landing several left punches to her opponent’s face and finishing the round with a flurry of two-handed strikes that, though imprecise, disoriented her rival.
In the second round, Claressa stepped on the gas, and after exchanges where she skillfully dodged her opponent’s punches, she came back with heavy hooks that dropped the Canadian three times within forty seconds.
After the first two counts, the referee rightly stopped the fight when Joanisse went down for the third time, even though it was only with one knee. Her corner was already ready to throw in the towel if he hadn’t. Joanisse’s reign lasted only a few months, as she had won the heavyweight title just last March. For Shields, however, it was a consolidation of her legacy.