Claressa Shields and Marie Eve Dicaire – Fight the Power
By David A. Avila
Led by super-talented Claressa Shields a group of female prizefighters stand ready to fight the power as the Public Enemy song stated.
An all-women fight card called “Superwomen” including Shields (10-0) versus Marie Eve Dicaire (17-0) headline a FITE.tv pay-per-view card on Friday March 5, at Dort Federal Event Center in Flint, Michigan.
Incidentally, its near International Women’s Day.
After several attempts to make this fight card happen, it is finally here.
“This event has been a year in the making. Literally a year ago, we were first supposed to have a press conference to announce this fight and then the pandemic came. The initial date of May 9 was cancelled. Shortly thereafter, we tried to reschedule the fight several times to no fruition. Then in December we decided the best way to do this fight was to do it ourselves on pay-per-view,” said promoter Dimitriy Salita.
For more than 100 years women have fought the power for the right to participate in professional boxing. Though they have gained traction, this fight card represents an attack on the status quo which has not provided media coverage for America’s top female prizefighters.
They are willing to challenge the boxing establishment.
For many decades boxing experts, with little knowledge of women prizefighters, insisted that the world did not want females hitting each other. It was proclaimed that women fighting women was unpopular.
Enter Germany and Mexico.
While American women fought undetected on small cards, Germany and Mexico were attracting large crowds on televised boxing events. And, then, an American woman named Ronda Rousey arrived and crashed the male-dominated fight scene for MMA and dispelled the myth that females could not attract attention.
All it took was the 2012 London Olympics to provide a platform for female boxing. Enter Shields, Marlen Esparza and others.
America’s Best
When Shields emerged from the 2016 Rio Olympics with her second gold medal in boxing, America realized that this native of Flint, Michigan was the one.
Like a speeding comet Shields zipped past world champions like Halley’s Comet and grabbed a super middleweight world title in her fourth pro fight. By her sixth fight she dropped down a weight division to grab a middleweight world title. In her ninth fight she met an undefeated middleweight titlist and soundly beat her to become undisputed middleweight world champion. That was April 2019.
Shields dropped down yet another weight division to grab the WBO and WBC super welterweight titles.
On Friday, Shields attempts to become undisputed super welterweight world champion when she meets IBF titlist Marie Eve Dicaire an undefeated Canadian fighter. Both have yet to experience losing. In 81 rounds as a professional Shields has loss no more than six rounds according to judges.
“To be honest, some of my hardest fights in the amateurs came from girls that were from Canada, even though I was very victorious in those fights. 77-1 in the amateurs. Canada has a strong background in boxing,” said Shields. “I’m excited to be in the ring with someone like Marie-Eve Dicaire, who I feel wants to win as much a me and can accept how big this moment is.”
Dicaire is no slouch either. In 134 total rounds as a professional she has lost only 24 rounds according to the judges. And she has fought three former world champions.
“It’s been a hell of a year, a year of postponement and disappointment but now it’s finally on. I’m here and I’m enjoying every moment of this adventure,” said Dicaire who lives in Quebec, Canada. “When I became a world champion, I was like is that it? Is there something more? This is when I started focusing on being an undisputed champion.”
Both fighters utilize speed and agility in their boxing style. Lately, Shields has incorporated a more professional stance that uses defense as a form of offense. If this were three-minute rounds it would provide a stark advantage. But this unification fight is set for two-minute rounds and the pace will be extremely quick.
Dicaire and Shields have never tasted defeat as professionals. It’s the moment of truth.
“Facing Claressa Shields is, for me, the opportunity of a lifetime. I worked all my life to get here. My work, my sweat and my blood got me here, so for sure I’m going to be 100% in the ring. I’m looking forward to Friday,” Dicaire said.
Shields has hungered for this moment.
“I don’t like losing. When I lost my first fight when I was 17, I didn’t sleep again until I was 21 when I won my second Olympics. That’s how personally I take this fight,” said Shields during the press conference. “I’m hoping she can bring out a different side of me because a lot of girls haven’t been able to take me to level three. I’m hoping she can take me to level 10.”
Undisputed super welterweight world champion has a certain ring to it. It’s a clarion call for the world to understand that women’s prizefighting is here to stay. And it’s powerful.
(Photo by Silvia Jone ILE Photography)