Clarissa Shields made her return to the boxing ring last night (Sat., July 26, 2025), defending her IBF, WBC, WBF and WBO Heavyweight titles against IBF Light Heavyweight champion, Lani Daniels,inside Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
And “G.W.O.A.T.” once again made an emphatic statement.
For 10 rounds, Shields had her way with Daniels, piecing her up with one big strike and combination after another. From the jump, it was obvious Shields was levels above IBF’s champion. That said, Daniels — who saw her seven-fight win streak go up in smoke — showed a ton of heart and proved that she can take a punch.
On the flip side, she didn’t offer much offense on her behalf, though she did manage to win the final round on two of the judges scorecards, though Shields took her foot off the gas and wound up with a one-sided unanimous decision with the scores of 99-91, 99-91, 100-90.
Checkout some of the highlights:
The “GWOAT” does it again
Claressa Shields made it look too easy in her undisputed heavyweight title defense vs Lani Daniels pic.twitter.com/CpdLf4Cr6r
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) July 27, 2025
The win keeps Shields perfect (17-0) in her professional boxing career, with two of those wins coming this year. Shields is always separating herself from the pack after every win, and it remains to be seen if another worthy challenger proves that she deserves a crack at the champion.
Because if we’re being 100 percent honest, her division isn’t that deep … at all.
There has been some chatter about a potential fight against Laila Ali, but that seems like nothing more than that, chatter, because Ali has not competed in nearly 18 years after walking away from the sports in 2007 with a career record of 24-0 with 21 knockouts.
She’s also on the wrong side of 45.
Indeed, a fight between Shields vs. Ali at this stage of their careers would be nothing more than a repeat of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson, and I think by now combat fans are fed up with that type of circus.
Right?
Full “Shields vs. Daniels” fight card results below:
Claressa Shields def. Lani Daniels via unanimous decision
Tony Harrison def. Edward Diaz via unanimous decision
Pryce Taylor def. Robert Simms via unanimous decision
Samantha Worthington def. Victoire Piteau via majority decision
Caroline Veyre def. Licia Boudersa via unanimous decision
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