Claressa Shields (15-0, 3 KOs) achieved a rare knockout when she stopped WBC women’s heavyweight champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanis (7-2, 2 KOs) in the second round on Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
The 29-year-old Shields used her lightning hand speed to land quick combinations and knocked Lepage-Joanis down three times en route to a second-round knockout win at 1 minute and 9 seconds into the bout.
It's unclear why Lepage-Joanis didn't adjust to stay on the outside of the action after the first knockdown, even though Shields was freely touching Lepage-Joanis in close range. No adjustment was made by Lepage-Joanis, and Shields continued to be pressured by them.
Shields was great, but her opponent was so weak that it was hard to fully appreciate her performance tonight. It's hard to believe Lepage-Joanis was the WBC women's heavyweight champion.
Shields' hand speed was too much for Lepage-Joanis, who was no match for him here and was overpowered.
Michel Rivera defeats Hugo Roldan by split decision
In one of the more competitive bouts on the card, light welterweight contender Michel Rivera (26-1, 14 KOs) defeated Hugo Roldan (22-3-1, 7 KOs) via 10-round split decision. Scores were 98-91 and 98-90 for Rivera and 95-94 for Roldan.
The win marked Rivera's second straight victory since losing to Frank Martin in 2022. Roldan would have been the ideal opponent for Rivera tonight, but Roldan didn't show enough power to keep Rivera honest.
It would be nice to see Michel Rivera face former IBF 140-pound champion Sabriel Matias next, as both fighters love to get in a fight and it should be entertaining for as long as it lasts.
Smith defeats Ergashev in super lightweight bout
Julian Storm Smith (9-2, 5 KOs) pulled off a stunning upset, defeating former light welterweight title challenger Shohjakhon Ergashev (24-2, 21 KOs) in the fifth round.
The scores were 95-94 for Smith and 95-94 for Egashev, and it was surprising to see Egashev lose to a fighter of this calibre, as they were the ones who should have had the advantage.
