Danielle Perkins cried tears of joy at getting Claressa Shields fight

Women’s heavyweight Danielle Perkins will try to do what no other women’s boxer has done to date as a professional – defeat Claressa Shields. 

The two will fight for Shields’ WBC heavyweight title as well as the vacant IBF and WBO titles on February 2 at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan. The card titled, “SuperBrawl,” is taking place on a Sunday, exactly a week before Super Bowl LIX.

Perkins, 42, is originally from Brooklyn, New York, but now trains in Houston. Perkins has professional ties to the area, having made her debut at the Kronk Gym in Detroit on a Salita Promotions card back in August 2020. Since then, Perkins’ career has seen large periods of inactivity. She would fight two more times, including a bout at the Dort Financial Center on the Shields-Marie Eve Dicaire undercard. After that, she took a three-year hiatus and fought twice in 2024. Her last win was a six-round unanimous decision over Christianne Fahey on the Shields-Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse undercard in July, in which Shields won a pair of heavyweight and light heavyweight titles. 

Though this is the most difficult undertaking of Perkins’ career, she has different feelings about the matchup.

“I don’t think I’ve ever cried tears of joy,” Perkins said at Tuesday’s media workout. “Hearing about this opportunity to fight Claressa [Shields] was my first time doing that.”

Perkins, who holds a professional record of 5-0 (2 KOs), is one of only 18 women listed on BoxRec.com as active women in the heavyweight division. She is one of only two active American heavyweights, with the 29-year-old Shields being the other. 

Perkins believes that her size will be the difference in this contest. At 6ft, Perkins has never fought below 175lbs. Shields of Flint, Michigan, has competed at middleweight and super middleweight before winning titles at 175lbs in her last fight.

“Size, strength, and power are the attributes I will bring to this fight,” Perkins said.  “I don’t think I am like anyone else Shields has fought. Claressa [Shields] is a phenomenal middleweight but has never gone more than two rounds at heavyweight.”

Despite Shields being a fifteen-fight veteran with a record of 15-0 (3 KOs) and having three more times the professional experience as Perkins, Perkins believes weight classes matter for a reason against the 5ft 8ins Shields. 

“All my experience is at heavyweight,” Perkins said. “I have a lot of rounds under my belt.”

Perkins’ initial tears of joy also were met with a stern reminder. After years of waiting for a fight like this, she is not simply just happy to be there. 

“The person you are meeting right now is not the same person that shows up to the fight,” Perkins said. “The mission is still very much the same. The person who shows up in the ring does not have that much respect for anybody. I am also very cautious and aware of who she is.”

Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.