Mark Spezia

Special to the Detroit Free Press

Claressa Shields hardly can fathom the course her life might have taken.

More pent-up anger and, perhaps, less discipline might have been the result had she not discovered boxing at age 11. That's the Olympic champion's prediction, anyway.

“I have no idea, really, but I do know I would still be angry,” said Shields, the Flint native who became America’s only repeat Olympic boxing gold medalist, male or female. “It seems like I was always angry before I started boxing, but boxing helped me control my anger and taught me self-discipline. I started taking out my anger in the ring.

“So, if I wasn’t giving 110 percent to boxing, I’d probably be giving 100 percent to something negative.”

Images of Shields’ professional debut in November, a unanimous decision over Franchon Crews, are perfect examples of how she releases aggression when the bell sounds.

One photo captures Shields squarely landing a right hook as Crews’ arms flail. Another shows Shields flattening Crews’ face with a thudding jab planted just below the eyebrow. A third image displays her follow-through after nailing Crews with a right cross, her mouth agape and eyes filled with fury.

The ring gives Shields solace, purpose and a strong sense of direction. It’s also where she will make history at the MGM Grand Detroit Event Center in just her second pro fight on Friday night. Shields’ six-round NABF Female Middleweight title fight against Szilvia Szabados (15-8, 6 KOs) will be the first women’s match to headline a boxing telecast on a premium channel, serving as the main event on Showtime’s Shobox: The New Generation (10 p.m.).

“Impatient, is that an emotion?” Shields said. “I can’t wait for the fight to start. I’m just very excited to be part of such a major event in my home state and that’s what makes it even more special. I have so many family and friends who will be there and for me to bring people to together like that makes me happy. I’ve run into so many people showing me their tickets.”

The significance of Friday’s bout is not lost on boxing historian and Showtime analyst Steve Farhood.

“This is a such a big deal and so unusual for women’s boxing, but it makes perfect sense to make Claressa Shields’ fight the main event because she is clearly the biggest name on the card by far,” said Steve Farhood, a boxing historian, Showtime analyst and former editor of The Ring and KO magazines. “She’s your star of the show. Women’s boxing has faded in the United States since the era of Christy Martin and Laila Ali ended about 10 years ago, but a fighter like Shields could do a lot with regard to filling that void.”

Shields, who turns 22 on March 17, feels she has broken this barrier because of what she brings to the ring. She went 77-1 as an amateur and has gone nearly five years without a loss.

“I guess I was the chosen one, so to speak, because of all the hard work I’ve put into boxing and the skills I have,” she said. “I want to help return women’s boxing to prominence and feel that if people want to see the best of women’s boxing, they need to see me.”

That’s not an afterthought for Shields, and she offered a boxing history lesson on Instagram soon after the event was announced to explain why.

“For those who don’t know, the NABF was one of the first titles that the great Muhammad Ali fought for and won after his 1960 win at the Olympic Games,” she posted. “To be given the opportunity to follow in his footsteps is an honor! And I’ll continue to carry his legacy!”

Shields earned $50,000 for her first professional fight and is likely in for a bigger payday Friday, according to her manager Mark Taffet.

"We expect her to earn at least that amount,” said Taffet, the former HBO Sports executive. “She is being paid commensurate with the honor of being the first woman to headline a card on premium television.”

Shields moved to West Palm Beach, Fla. shortly after breezing to her second gold medal at the Rio Olympics in August, but she has been training in Flint since mid-December after reuniting with original coach Jason Crutchfield. The two had been apart for about two years.

As a result, Shields returned to her roots – the gritty, basement gym at Flint’s Berston Field House where Crutchfield took an angry, 11-year-old Shields under his wing, transforming her into an Olympic champion by age 17. He still runs Berston’s youth boxing program.

“There were times in the last couple of years where we would be talking and then not be talking, but we were together at a national tournament he took boxers to after the Olympics,” said Shields, who also been conditioning at the YMCA in downtown Flint. “Over a meal, we hashed out any differences we still had and it’s been great working together again.

“I need somebody who really knows me to take me further as a professional. Jason knows how to make me better and has been like a second father.”

Shields’ most immediate goal is a showdown with unbeaten WBC Female Middleweight champion Christina Hammer (20-0, 9 KOs).

“I really don’t know for sure what will happen after Friday, but I want to stay busy with six or seven fights this year,” she said. “You have to stay focused and not look beyond your next fight, but I would like to be fighting Christina Hammer by the end of the year.”

Shields also learned that Universal Pictures, which purchased the rights to her life story last year, has designated Barry Jenkins to write a script for a coming-of-age drama about her. Jenkins wrote and directed the Oscar-winning Moonlight.

“It’s really exciting that somebody like Barry Jenkins is writing the movie,” Shields said. “We are working out a contract. Ice Cube should play coach Crutchfield, but I don’t know about me.”

Friday’s undercard features six rising prospects boasting a combined record of 80-2-5 with 39 knockouts.

Antonio Nieves vs. Nikolay Potapov: (10 rounds bantamweights): The winner of this clash of unbeaten contenders moves one step closer to a major title shot. Nieves(17-0-2, 9 KOs) is ranked No. 4 in the WBO, while Potapov ()16-0-1, 8 KOs) is ranked No. 9 by the WBO, No. 10 by WBA and No. 13 by the IBF.



Wesley Tucker vs. Ed Williams: (8 rounds welterweights): Detroiter Williams (12-1-1, 4 KOs) is coming off a unanimous decision victory over then 6-1 Christon Edwards, last July at the MGM in Las Vegas. As an amateur, he was a two-time Michigan State Champion. Tucker is 13-0 with eight knockouts).

James Gordon Smith vs. Joshua Greer, Jr. (8 rounds, bantamweights): Smith, a Detroit resident, improved to 11-0 with six knockouts after a second-round TKO in late January. He defeated Nieves as an amateur. Greer (11-1-1, 4 KOs), is unbeaten in his last eight bouts, including a decision over then 10-0 Juan Gabriel Medina on Oct. 1.