Claressa Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and now two-division undisputed champion, is ESPN’s new No. 1 women’s pound-for-pound fighter.
Shields dominated Marie-Eve Dicaire in a 10-round unanimous decision victory to unify all four major junior middleweight belts on March 6. Shields had already collected all four middleweight world titles with a decision victory over Christina Hammer in 2019. She’s the first fighter, female or male, to be undisputed champion in two different divisions in the modern era.
Former two division champion and current ESPN boxing analyst Timothy Bradley Jr. moved Shields to the No. 1 spot after her victory over Dicaire saying that what Shields is doing is unprecedented.
“She’s now a unified champion in two different divisions. It’s all about being great and taking risks and Claressa Shields is always willing to prove how great she is inside the ring, and winning another undisputed championship is unreal, it really is — it’s unreal what she’s doing,” Bradley said. “It’s not an easy thing to do, and to do it in the short amount of fights that Claressa has under her belt — it’s remarkable.”
Bradley is already looking at Shield’s future and could see her making more history if she continues to chase greatness.
“I don’t know if Claressa can go down to 147 pounds, and challenge welterweight undisputed champion Jessica McCaskill for all her belts, but if she does, and she beats McCaskill, she will definitely be the GWOT, without any questions,” said Bradley. “I actually think she is already the GWOT. She has tremendous skills, heart, ability, technique, she has everything. I would love to see her fight against Laila Ali, I really like the talk around that fight — that would be amazing.”
McCaskill, who defended her championship in the rematch against Cecilia Braekhus on Saturday, also climbed a spot, going from No. 4 to No. 3. The judges’ scorecards were a little wider than the fight represented, but regardless, she came out on top.
ESPN boxing writer Nick Parkinson moved McCaskill up one spot to No. 3 over Amanda Serrano, but said that she needs some more victories to leapfrog Shields or No. 2 Katie Taylor.
“After retaining her undisputed welterweight championship, only Katie Taylor and Shields stand above Jessica McCaskill in terms of achievement and current form,” Parkinson said. “The 35-year-old from Chicago beat Braekhus in a far more convincing manner than their first fight six months ago. With that victory, McCaskill showed that she is improving, but she still trails Taylor, the undisputed lightweight champion (who outpointed McCaskill in December 2017) and Shield, on my list.”
ESPN’s Kel Dansby ranks has McCaskill at No. 3 and couldn’t find a way to move her ahead of Shields and Taylor.
“Despite an impressive title defense over Braekhus in the rematch, McCaskill fails to move up on my pound-for-pound list. This is more so because of the accomplishments of the two women ahead of her and in no way a knock against the undisputed welterweight champion,” Dansby said. “The weekend prior, Shields became the first boxer in the four-belt era to be crowned undisputed champion in two different divisions. Taylor is currently the undisputed champion at lightweight, and holds a decisive win over McCaskill in 2017. It’ll be hard for McCaskill to jump either Shields or Taylor without fighting them and literally knocking them out of their spot. “
So, who else is in the ESPN.com women’s pound-for-pound rankings? Here’s the list.
Note: Results are through March 15.
1. CLARESSA SHIELDS 
Previous ranking: No. 2
RECORD: 11-0, 2 KOs
DIVISION: junior middleweight and middleweight undisputed champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Marie Eve Dicaire, March 5
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
2. KATIE TAYLOR 
Previous ranking: No. 1
RECORD: 17-0, 6 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Miriam Gutierrez, Nov. 14
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
3. JESSICA MCCASKILL Previous ranking: No. 4
RECORD: 10-2, 3 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight undisputed champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Cecilia Braekhus, March 13
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
4. AMANDA SERRANO Previous ranking: No. 3
RECORD: 39-1-1, 29 KOs
DIVISION: Featherweight (titlist)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO1) Dahiana Santana, Dec. 15
NEXT FIGHT: March 25 vs. Daniel Bermudez
5. DELFINE PERSOON Previous ranking: No. 6
RECORD: 44-3, 18 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight
LAST FIGHT: L (UD10) Katie Taylor, Aug. 22
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
6. CHRISTINA HAMMER Previous ranking: No. 7
RECORD: 26-1, 12 KOs
DIVISION: Middleweight
LAST FIGHT: W (Ko7) Sanna Turunen, Dec. 20
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
7. MIKAELA MAYER Previous ranking: No. 8
RECORD: 14-0, 5 KOs
DIVISION: Junior lightweight (titlist)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Ewa Brodnicka, Oct. 31
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
T-8. CECILIA BRAEKHUS Previous ranking: No. 5
RECORD: 36-2, 9 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight
LAST FIGHT: L (UD10) Jessica McCaskill, March 13
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
T-8. DANIELA BERMUDEZ Previous ranking: No. 10
RECORD: 29-3-3, 10 KOs
DIVISION: Bantamweight (titlist)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO4) Cintia Gisela Castillo, Dec. 4
NEXT FIGHT: March 25 vs. Amanda Serrano
10. TERRI HARPER Previous ranking: 9
RECORD: 11-0-1, 6 KOs
DIVISION: Junior lightweight (titlist)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO9) Katharina Thanderz, Nov. 14
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
The formula
The rankings are based on a descending points system, with a first-place vote receiving 10 points, a second-place vote receiving nine points and so on.
Others receiving votes: Yesica Bopp (6), Seniesa Estrada (5), Layla McCarter (5) Hyun Choi (4), Yulihan Luna (1), Yanileth Mercado (1), Savannah Marshall (1), Chantelle Cameron (1).
How our experts voted
Timothy Bradley Jr.: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. McCaskil, 5. Hammer, 6. Mayer, 7. Harper, 8. Estrada, 9. Braekhus, 10. Persoon
Nick Parkinson: 1. Taylor, 2. Shields, 3. McCaskill, 4. Serrano, 5. Braekhus, 6. Persoon, 7. Hammer, 8. Mayer, 9. Bopp, 10. Cameron
Michelle Joy Phelps: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. McCaskill, 4. Serrano, 5. Braekhus, 6. Persoon, 7. Mayer, 8. Harper, 9. Bermudez, 10. Marshall
Salvador Rodriguez: 1. Taylor, 2. Shields, 3. McCaskill, 4. Persoon, 5. Serrano, 6. Harper, 7. Bermudez, 8. Mayer, 9. Braekhus, 10. Luna
Bernardo Pilatti: 1. Taylor, 2. Shields, 3. McCaskill, 4. Serrano, 5. Hammer, 6. McCarter, 7. Persoon, 8. Bermudez, 9. Mayer, 10. Mercado
Charlie Moynihan: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. Bermudez, 5. McCaskill, 6. Hammer, 7. Choi, 8. Persoon, 9. Mayer, 10. Braekhus
Kel Dansby: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. McCaskill, 4. Serrano, 5. Hammer, 6. Persoon, 7. Bopp, 8. Mayer, 9. Estrada, 10. Bermudez
ESPN experts’ poll
First place: Shields (4), Taylor (3)
Second place: Taylor (4), Shields (3)
Third place: McCaskill (5), Serrano (2)
Fourth place: Serrano (4), McCaskill (1), Persoon (1), Bermudez (1)
Fifth place: Hammer (3), Braekhus (2), McCaskill (1), Serrano (1)
Sixth place: Persoon (3) Hammer (1), Mayer (1), Harper (1), McCarter (1)
Seventh place: Harper (2), Persoon (1), Mayer (1), Bermudez (1), Choi (1), Bopp (1)
Eighth place: Mayer (3), Persoon (1), Bermudez (1), Harper (1), Estrada (1)
Ninth place: Mayer (2), Braekhus (2), Bermudez (1), Bopp (1), Estrada (1)
10th place: Persoon (1), Braekhus (1), Bermudez (1), Luna (1), Mercado (1), Cameron (1), Marshall (1)