(30 Jan 2025)
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Flint, Michigan – 30 January 2025
1. Various of Claressa Shields (left) and Danielle Perkins (right) staring down each other ahead of their heavyweight unification fight on Sunday
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Claressa Shields, heavyweight champion:
“But I really hope Danielle don’t come in here Sunday thinking I can’t punch. Because they’re going to need two stretchers to carry her out if she do that.”
3. Perkins smiles during the new conference portion of the event
4. Perkins gets out of her seat and hugs Shields
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Danielle Perkins, heavyweight contender:
“I always have told Claressa that I do always appreciate everything that she’s done for boxing. Her coming up to the heavyweight division is the best thing that could have ever happened to me in my entire life. No one at any point ever cared about this division until Claressa came up here.”
6. Various of Perkins and Shields posing for pictures
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Dmitriy Salita, promoter:
“Today, we do not have a heavyweight champion from the United States of America. In fact, the last born, undisputed American heavyweight champion was Riddick Bowe. And that fight happened in 1992. So, the winner of this fight — both fighters are from the United States — will restore that historic title to come right here in Flint, Michigan, on February 2nd.”
8. Brandon Moore (left) and Skylar Lacy (right), heavyweights on the Shields-Perkins undercard, scuffle during their staredown
9. Shields’ WBO championship belt sits on the dais
10. Cutaway of Shields at the podium
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Claressa Shields, heavyweight champion:
“I want them to know that just because we come from Flint don’t mean that we’re not great people. We’re great people. We’re great athletes. Sometimes, the water crisis overshadows everything going on in Flint. The water crisis is still existing, but it’s a lot of resilient people here.”
12. Shields onstage with Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Sheldon Neeley, Flint mayor:
“She really embodies the spirit of the city of Flint — coming from crisis to recovery. She embodies the true spirit of the city of Flint. And it’s great that she chose her hometown to be able to bring this great showcase here.”
14. Shields walks onstage, hugs Perkins and greets Perkins’ promoter
STORYLINE:
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields will put the spotlight on her hometown when she boxes top-ranked contender Danielle Perkins for the undisputed heavyweight title on Sunday night.
Shields and Perkins appeared Thursday for a pre-fight news conference held at City Hall in Flint, Michigan, not far from the Dort Financial Center hockey arena where they will square off in a few days,
The fighters were friendly, sharing a few hugs and smiles, and Perkins saying she appreciates everything her opponent has “done for boxing.”
But Shields had a warning for the challenger.
“I really hope Danielle don’t come in here Sunday thinking I can’t punch,” Shields said. “Because they’re going to need two stretchers to carry her out if she do that.”
Shields said she had offers to hold the fight in big-city venues, including Barclays Center in New York, but decided instead to stick with the city she calls home.
“I want them to know that just because we come from Flint don’t mean that we’re not great people” she said. “We’re great people. We’re great athletes. Sometimes, the water crisis overshadows everything going on in Flint. The water crisis is still existing, but it’s a lot of resilient people here.”
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