Claressa Shields (born March 17, 1995) is an American professional boxer who has held the unified WBC and IBF female super middleweight titles since August 2017.
As an amateur she won a gold medal in the women’s middleweight division at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, making her the first American boxer—female or male—to win consecutive Olympic medals. Shields was the youngest boxer at the February 2012 U.S. Olympic trials, winning the event in the 165 lb (75 kg) middleweight division. In May, she qualified for the 2012 Olympics, the first year in which women’s boxing was an Olympic event, and went to become the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing.
On August 4, 2017, Shields defeated defending champ Nikki Adler in Detroit for the WBC super-middleweight belt and the vacant IBF super-middleweight belt. The fight was on Showtime.
We had the pleasure of interviewing Claressa Shields at the Shadow League Sports Trailblazers 4th Annual Shadow League Awards 2017- NYC ,where she was an honoree, see more about Claressa in our World Liberty TV.African-American Channel by Clicking here.
Boxing promoter, Don King quickly hit pay dirt by convincing Muhammad Ali to fight in an exhibition for an African-American hospital in 1972. From there, he talked his way into the inner circles of top heavyweights Joe Frazier and George Foreman, who were set for a title bout in January 1973. King notoriously arrived at the fight with Frazier’s entourage, but switched allegiances after Foreman scored the decisive knockout.
King firmly established himself in the sport with the 1974 title bout between Ali and Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire. Although he possessed little formal experience as a promoter, King convinced Zaire dictator Mobutu Sésé Seko to provide the financial backing for the $5 million he promised each fighter, and organized an accompanying music festival that included James Brown and B.B. King. Despite delays and numerous attempts to move the fight back to the United States, the “Rumble in the Jungle” took place in late October and entered the annals of boxing lore with Ali’s win.
Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1997, Don King remained one of the sport’s major players well into the following decade. In 2006, Forbes estimated he had promoted some 600 championship bouts and generated a net worth of $350 million over his career.
However, the dilution of boxing talent through numerous sanctioning bodies and the rise of mixed-martial arts as a mainstream sport combined to erode King’s power. He was forced to cut staff members at Don King Productions, and in 2011 he sold his massive estate in Manalapan, Florida. Additionally, he endured the loss of his longtime wife, Henrietta, around this time.
King remained active professionally, though he usually drew far more attention than the little-known fighters he was promoting. He occasionally surfaced in the news for other reasons, such as when he was rumored to be a speaker at the 2016 Republican National Convention.
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Entering a rematch he has openly admitted he doesn’t want and unable to attract his desired opponents, unbeaten WBC champion Deontay Wilder hasn’t shied away from sharing his displeasure of the current state of the heavyweight division.
Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs) will look to take out his anger on Saturday when he meets former champion and mandatory challenger Bermane Stiverne at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Wilder followed up the Stiverne win with five defenses of his title — all ending via knockout. But the lineup of foes, some that have come as late replacements, have been a mixture of journeymen and washed-up names.
See more about Wilder vs. Stiverne II Boxing Rematch for WBC Heavyweight championship-2017 in our World Liberty TV Boxing Channel by clicking here.
Matchroom Sport was founded by his father, Barry Hearn. As Group Managing Director, Eddie Hearn focuses on fulfilling the company’s exclusive televised boxing deal until 2021 with Sky Sports, to broadcast up to 20 live shows a year. Eddie Hearn promotes Matchroom Sports world boxing champions, including Anthony Joshua, Ryan Burnett, James DeGale, and Khalid Yafai.
Hearn announced that he has signed his first American fighter to his newly created Matchroom Boxing USA: former middleweight titlist Daniel Jacobs. As part of the deal, Jacobs has signed a multi-fight contract with HBO in a major move.
Jacobs (32-2, 29 KOs), 30, of Brooklyn, New York, will fight under Hearn’s banner for the first fight of the new deal when he headlines HBO’s “World Championship Boxing” in November11th 2017 With Louis Arias at Nassau Coliseum New York.
After overcoming a rare form of bone cancer that nearly killed him, Jacobs won a secondary middleweight world title in 2014. Jacobs defended the 160-pound belt four times, including a huge first-round knockout victory against former titlist Peter Quillin in December 2015, before the mandatory bout with Golovkin was put together.
Inspiring and electric in the ring, Daniel Jacobs is a true ambassador for boxing,” HBO Sports executive vice president Peter Nelson said.
See exclusive interview with Eddie Hearn, Boxing Promoter and Daniel Jacobs VS Louis Arias NY Press Conference for their fight on November 11th 2017 at Nassau Coliseum Long Island New York. See more about boxing in our World Liberty TV Boxing Channel by clicking here.
Born into a boxing family, Mikey’s father Eduardo was the trainer of famed fighter Fernando Vargas and he passed the sport on to his three sons. Mikey is trained by his brother, former Trainer of the Year Robert Garcia, while his other brother Daniel, is also a boxing trainer.
Garcia is bi-lingual and graduated from the Ventura County Police Academy in his hometown of Ventura, California. He began his amateur career at 14-years-old and took home National PAL and Junior Golden Gloves championships. His amateur career also saw him score a victory over unbeaten professional champion Danny Garcia.
He turned pro in 2006 and quickly began delivering knockouts and moved himself up the rankings. In 2011 he defeated previously unbeaten Matt Remillard and followed it up with impressive performances against Rafael Guzman and Jonathan Barros before his first world title opportunity came to fruition.
January 2013 saw Garcia battle Mexican legend Orlando Salido for the featherweight world championship. Garcia was dominant on his way to taking a technical decision victory while knocking Salido down four times.
Garcia sought out a world title at 130-pounds next and would face Puerto Rico’s Roman Martinez in November 2013 to achieve that goal. He survived a second round knockdown to eventually knockout the reigning champion in the eighth round.
After a lengthy layoff, Garcia returned to the ring in style in July when he knocked former world champion Elio Rojas down four times on his way to a fifth-round stoppage victory. His next challenge saw him match up against 135-pound champion Dejan Zlaticanin in January 2017 in the hopes of becoming a three-division world champion.
Garcia delivered a highlight reel knockout as he flattened the previously unbeaten champion and captured the WBC lightweight championship. Garcia will now face four-division world champion Adrien Broner at Barclays Center in one of the most anticipated bouts of the summer.
World Liberty TV’S Producer sat down with Mikey Garcia 3 Time World Boxing Champion at his Press Conference VS Adrien “The Problem’’ Broner on July 29th 2017, See what Garcia told us about his career and what he had to say about his upcoming bout with Adrien “The Problem’’ Broner.
See more about Mikey Garcia in our Boxing Channel and World Liberty TV Boxing blogs.
Living boxers heading into the NYSBHOF include Manhattan welterweight Gaspar “El Indio” Ortega (131-39-6, 69 KOs), Yonkers’ world heavyweight title challenger Renaldo “Mr.” Snipes (39-8-1, 22 KOs), Yonkers middleweight Doug “Cobra’ Dewitt (33-8-5, 19 KOs), and “The Bronx Bomber,” world middleweight title challenger Alex Ramos (39-10-2, 24 KOs)
Posthumous participants being inducted are Queens’ former middleweight and light heavyweight world champion Dick Tiger (60-19-3, 27 KOs), Brooklyn/Manhattan light heavyweight world champion Jose “Chegui” Torres (41-3-1, 29 KOs), and Williamsburg’s middleweight world champion, “The Nonpareil” Jack Dempsey (51-4-11, 23 KOs).
Other non-participants heading into the NYSBHOF, along with Bartels and Katz, are Brooklyn/Bronx matchmaker Stan Hoffman and Queens’ International agent Don Majeski.
Posthumous non-participant inductees are Brooklyn boxing historian Hank Kaplan, Long Island cut-man Al Gavin, Bronx referee Arthur Donovan and New York City columnist Dan Parker.
Each inductee will receive a custom-designed belt signifying his induction into the NYSBHOF.
The 2017 inductees were selected by the NYSBHOF nominating committee members: Jack Hirsch, Steve Farhood, Bobby Cassidy, Jr., Randy Gordon, Henry Hascup, Ron McNair, Angelo Prospero and Neil Terens.
See more of 6th Annual New York State Boxing Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony-2017 in World Liberty TV Boxing Channel by Clicking here.
A Message from out going President Bob Duffy of Ring 8 Veterans Boxing Association
To My Dear friends & Family
I want to you for coming Ring 8 Annual Holiday & Award Dinner.
It’s a special day which we acknowledge our boxing friends and family for their many accomplishments to a sport that is most dear to us.It’s our, Ring 8 ,way of saying “thank you”.For me personally ,I take pride in keeping the spirit of the Ring 8 alive with these outstanding award winners .Congratulations to all of you.
As you already know I will be stepping down as the president of Ring 8 at the end of this month.Jack Hirsch will be stepping in as the new President and he will carry on with the duties and the responsibilities of running this prestigious organization. With an outstanding Board of Directors,I can only see better things in our future.
As a past president I will be in the company of a great many past presidents ,Bobby Bartels,Hennie Wallitsch, Patsy Giovannelli,Tio Raino and Ruby Goldstein to name a few.
There are a great many things we were able to accomplish to keep the organization driving but the one I hold dear is the New York State Boxing Hall of Fame.It was a dream of my good friend Tony Mazzarella and with due diligence from the Board of Directors we were able to make it a reality. Already we will be honoring our 6th class in April 2017,Also I want to thank Ron McNair,Emma Elizondo and the late Joe Dwyer, who opened the door to me at my first holiday party in 1986at the Waterfront Crabhouse.Loving the sport of boxing ,it was there that I became addicted to being in the company of great men and women who served the sport in many capacities and now became my extended family .
Lastly and most important I want to extend a deep appreciation to mary ,my wife for 44 years,who has always there for me during my tenure and worked behind the scenes of Ring 8’s many accomplishments ,I truly would not have accomplished all that Ring 8 did if it wasn’t for my wife. Mary thank you and I love you. Also ,a special call out to my daughters, Merrillen,Margaret and Michelle who too was always there for Ring 8,putting in countless hours of administrative support over the years. Thank you and I love you allfor always being there for me.And finally it’s all about… VETERANS BOXING ASSOCIATION RING 8/NY “BOXERS HELPING BOXERS”
God Bless you all
Bob Duffy.
World Liberty TV , & its Executive Producer Dr. Abbey like to thank Mr Duffy for his kind invites throughout the years to cover the Ring 8 Events, Meetings as well as New York State Boxing Hall of Fame events, we wish Mr Duffy a great retirement, and welcome a great man Jack Hirsch who will be Ring President Effective Jan 1st 2017.
Barry McGuigan and nicknamed The Clones Cyclone, is a retired Irish professional boxer from Clones, County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland who became the WBA and lineal featherweight champion. Barry was a fan favorite for Irish and British audiences, as he represented neutrality and peace in a time when Northern Ireland (where he lived) was divided as part of The Troubles. He founded, and is the current President of, the Professional Boxing Association (PBA). McGuigan is the CEO and founder of Cyclone Promotions.
In 1985, McGuigan met former world featherweight champion Juan Laporte and won by a decision after ten rounds. Following one more win (a defence of his European Title against Farid Gallouze), he finally got his world title try when the long reigning WBA featherweight champion, Eusebio Pedroza of Panama, came to London to put his title on the line at Loftus Road football stadium. McGuigan became the champion by dropping Pedroza in round seven and winning a unanimous fifteen-round decision in a fight refereed by hall of fame referee Stanley Christodoulou. McGuigan and his wife were feted in a public reception through the streets of Belfast that attracted several hundred thousand spectators. Later that year, he was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, becoming the first person not born in the United Kingdom to win the award.
McGuigan was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame and International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005. He also fought in Ring Magazine’s 1986 Fight of the Year, and was a title character in the 8-bit computer game, Barry McGuigan World Championship Boxing. In 1985 he was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
He was honored in an Irish ballad song released in 1984, “Clones Cyclone”, written by Johnny McCauley and sung by Big Tom.
McGuigan now manages boxers, including Northern Irish super bantamweight champion Carl Frampton.
World Liberty TV’s Executive Producer sat down with Barry McGuigan at The Ring 8 ,Annual Holiday Party ,where Mr McGuigan and his fighter Carl Frampton were honored, see what he had to say in this exclusive interview right here in World Liberty TV, Boxing Channel.
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