Claressa Shields vs Danielle Perkins set for Feb. 2

Claressa Shields will face Danielle Perkins on Feb. 2 in Flint, Michigan.

Claressa Shields is set to return to action on Sunday, Feb. 2, headlining a DAZN-streamed event from her hometown of Flint, Mich.

Shields (15-0, 3 KO) will defend her WBC heavyweight title against Danielle Perkins (5-0, 2 KO), a 42-year-old who turned pro at age 37 in 2020.

If you’ve never seen Perkins fight and are wondering if she has a legitimate shot at beating the 29-year-old Shields, who is arguably the single best women’s boxer in history, the answer is no, barring an injury, miracle, or more likely injury and miracle combined.

But this is the position that Shields’ boxing career is in, basically. She’s been undisputed at 154, 160, and 168, and is now essentially fighting at “Claressaweight,” because there are no contenders at proper weights she hasn’t beaten, and she just has no real incentive to cut any more than she feels like, because the competition and box office potential are capped at a pretty clear level from this point.

It’s not her fault, mind you, other than she’s simply too good for the field, and by quite a lot, and has already beaten everyone there is to beat.

Shields last fought on July 27 in Detroit, scoring a second round stoppage win over the hapless Vanessa Joanisse in a fight that had heavyweight and light heavyweight titles on the line, partly because neither division truly exists in women’s boxing, so you can kinda just do what you want.

Perkins, not by coincidence, fought on that undercard, winning a six-round decision over Christianne Fahey. Perkins was about 175 for her bout that night, same as Shields, and has fought as heavy as just shy of 200 lbs. She is a big (6’0”), physically strong fighter, but the difference in skill level will be enormous, as it was with Shields and Joanisse.