Shields and Perkins ready to show their mettle in Flint
WBC heavyweight champion Claressa Shields faces her next challenge this Sunday, February 2, when she faces Danielle Perkins in Flint, Michigan, on a card that will be broadcast live on DAZN.
Shields (15-0 with 3 KOs), will seek to extend her undefeated reign and continue to consolidate her status as one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world.
Perkins (5-0 with 2 KOs), former WBC Silver heavyweight champion, will present a difficult test for Shields, as she has an undefeated record and a respectable punch.
Both fighters were face to face at a press conference where they commented on some aspects of the fight they will have:
Claressa Shields
“It has been a crazy couple of years. The biopic “The Fire Inside” is about Flint, Mich., and how it helped me get here. I wanted to pay it forward and have Flint fighters on this card. Flint helped create who and how I am. You see how I was brought up and what I have become.
“Boxing is personal. I take it very seriously because it’s really all I had for many years. Boxing was the first thing that I was actually great at and it made me feel really good.
“Danielle (Perkins) might be stronger, she is smooth and has skills. She went to the world championships and won a gold medal and a bronze. I won three gold medals at the world championships and two Olympic gold medals.
“Danielle may not be the fastest, she’s unorthodox and is a southpaw, but when she hits her opponents, their whole game plans change.
“I am trying to break barriers. I have to continue to do the unthinkable. Until I get there, the fire inside will keep burning.”
Danielle Perkins
“I always tell Claressa that her coming up to the heavyweight division is the best thing that could ever happen to me in my entire life. No one at any point cared about the heavyweight division until she became a heavyweight.
“No one has ever wanted to fight me. I have only had five professional fights because no one wants to step in the ring with me. It’s unfortunate because I’ve got some skills.
“I know that Claressa is up for the challenge. This is a real risk. No other middleweight would ever take this kind of risk.
“We are both putting our lives on the line Sunday. We are going to fight because neither of us has any sense.
“I have been dreaming about this fight. I am looking forward to the first bell.
“Claressa and I are good friends, and those make for the best fights. We respect each other. She is going to try and break my nose, and I am going to try and break her jaw.”
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