16 year old Claressa Shields is the youngest fighter trying to win a spot on the U.S. Olympic boxing team.
She made her case for representing the U.S. in London this summer by defeating the top ranked woman in her weight class last night.
Here's what the Seattle Spokesman-Review said about Shields performance last night:
The 16-year-old middleweight from Flint, Mich., turned the first U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Women’s Boxing on end Monday night with a dominant performance in upsetting top-seeded Franchon Crews in a crackling highlight to the opening round.
And on a night when nerves seemed to earn a draw in more than a handful of bouts, the youngest competitor among the 24 trying to take the next step to the London Olympics betrayed none.
“I wanted it – I wanted to fight her as soon as I qualified,” said Shields. “She was saying she’s the best, so if she’s the best, I wanted her. Piece of work.”
It’s hardly over for Crews, a five-time national champion. But now she’ll have to fight her way back in the double-elimination event, as only the champions in the three weight classes qualify for the AIBA World Championships in China this May.
A top-eight finish there guarantees fighters a spot in the first Olympic women’s boxing competition in July.
Shields will face another Michigan fighter in her next bout. Centerline's Andrecia Wasson was the 2010 Welterweight World Champion.
