Claressa Shields stopped Kaye Scott in the sixth round in Atlanta to reclaim the WBC and WBA middleweight titles, becoming a three-time world champion at 160 pounds.
The American star dropped down from heavyweight for the bout, moving her undefeated professional record to 19-0. Victory in Georgia reinforced her claim as the world top female fighter, particularly with Irish pioneer Katie Taylor preparing for retirement.
Shields maintained control of the contest throughout the opening rounds before producing a decisive finish. The key moments occurred in the sixth round when the 42-year-old Scott was knocked down and subsequently pinned against the ropes under a heavy barrage of punches.
With Scott unable to defend herself against the sustained attack, her corner threw multiple towels into the ring. The referee officially ended the contest after one minute and 38 seconds of the sixth round.
Weight cut and fight strategy
The victory capped an intense training camp for Shields, who shed significant weight to make the middleweight limit. She revealed after the fight that she had embarked on a demanding 14-week weight loss program to move down from 198 pounds.
Shields said: "It was a hard camp. I always tell myself that everything is easy work, but it was a really hard camp. I cut 38 pounds. I started 14 weeks ago at 198 and got down to 160. It was the most disciplined I've been since the Olympics, I feel like."
Despite her dominance, Shields acknowledged the physical strength of her Australian opponent. Scott brought durable power to the ring, forcing Shields to manage her energy carefully after her drastic weight reduction.
Shields said: "She was stronger than I thought. She was very strong. I knew that, with the amount of weight I'd cut, I didn't want to exert too much energy early."
She added: "I was trying to make sure I could deal with her strength and not get caught with anything crazy, because I'm not as strong as I feel at 175."
Potential bout with Lauren Price
Having secured the WBC and WBA middleweight belts, Shields has already identified her next target. The American star wants her next fight to be against Britain's Lauren Price, targeting a date between December and January at 160 pounds.
Price, the reigning WBA welterweight champion and a 2020 Olympic gold medallist for Great Britain, has welcomed the prospect of facing Shields. The proposed matchup would pit two of the most accomplished champions in women's boxing against each other.
Promoter Dmitriy Salita described the prospective fight as a mega event and stated his preference for staging the contest in North America. However, he confirmed that returning to the United Kingdom remains a strong option.
Salita told Sky Sports: "Claressa came down to middleweight to make the biggest fights possible. We want to make this a mega-event, and I believe that fight belongs in the United States."
Salita added: "That being said, we love the UK, and another fight there is certainly not out of the question. It's an incredible time for women's boxing."
Shields is open to competing on both sides of the Atlantic. She insisted that she could face Price in the United States before travelling to the United Kingdom for a high-profile rematch.
Background on champions and sanctioning bodies
Shields, born in Flint, Michigan, is a two-time Olympic gold medallist who won middleweight gold at London 2012 and Rio 2016. Known self-proclaimedly as the GWOAT, or Greatest Woman of All Time, she has won world championships across three different weight classes.
The WBC, founded in 1963, and the WBA, established in 1921, represent two of the four major international sanctioning bodies in professional boxing. Reclaiming both title belts restores Shields to the pinnacle of the middleweight division as negotiations begin for her next major outing.
