Claressa Shields Makes Short Work of Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse

Claressa Shields accomplished a rare distinction tonight in Detroit. She won world titles in two different weight classes inside the same fight. At stake in her match with Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse was Lepage-Joanisse’s WBC heavyweight strap and the vacant WBO light heavyweight title.

Lepage-Joanisse was a good human interest story. She captured the belt in her second crack at it after an absence from the ring of almost five years during which she was in a car accident and her weight reportedly ballooned to 320 pounds. But it would take more than a good human interest story to defeat Shields, the self-proclaimed GWOAT who was in a different league than her overmatched opponent.

A flurry of combinations from Shields at the end of round one was the portent of a fast finish. In the second stanza, a left hook begat another flurry that climaxed with a chopping right hand that knocked the Canadian off her pins. Lepage-Joanisse made it to her feet only to be knocked down twice more in rapid succession. At this juncture, her corner threw in the white towel.

At the 1:09 mark of the second two-minute round, it was all over. The fight consumed a lot less time than the amateurish prelude, a cacophonous mishmash.

In theory, Claressa (15-0, 3 KOs) has many options going forward and, at age 29, she may be just reaching her peak, but finding reputable opponents will be daunting. It was the second loss in nine starts for Lepage-Joanisse for whom there will likely be no third act.

Co-Feature

Michel Rivera, a Miami-based Dominican, scored a 10-round split decision over Argentina import Hugo Alberto Roldan.  Rivera punctuated his victory with a knockdown in the final stanza. The scores were 99-90 and 98-91 for Rivera and a bizarre 95-94 for the Argentine.

The hard-trying Roldan, 22-2-1 heading in, was a swarmer who didn’t hit hard enough to cause Rivera any distress. The Dominican, who has attracted a lot of ink for his facial resemblance to Muhammad Ali, improved to 26-1 (14) in his second fight back since losing a wide decision to Frank Martin.

Also

In a massive upset, obscure Chicago-area super lightweight Julian Smith, who purportedly took the fight on five days’ notice, won a well-earned 10-round split decision over house fighter Shohjahon Ergashev. The 33-year-old Smith, who improved to 9-2 (5) put the Uzbek southpaw on the canvas in the final second of the second round with a hard right hand. Referee Ben Rodriguez failed to acknowledge it, perhaps thinking that the punch landed after the bell.

This was no fluke as Smith proved three rounds later when he decked Ergashev with a sweeping left hook. When the smoke cleared, two of the judges got it right, favoring Smith by 95-94 tallies. The dissenter had it for Ergashev by the same margin. Heading in, Ergashev was 24-1 (21 KOs) with his only defeat coming in a world title fight with Subriel Matias.

The card was promoted by former world title challenger Dmitriy Salita who has found a home in Detroit with the avowed purpose of rebuilding the Motor City into a hub for world-class professional boxing.

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