Claressa Shields has become one of the most influential boxers of the modern era as she continues to grow the women’s sport to new levels.
Not every fighter can boast Shields’ accomplishments, and therefore many box in comparative obscurity. One of those boxers is Kisha Snow, who Shields’ promoter, Dmitriy Salita knew well as he grew up training with her at the Starrett City Boxing Gym in Brooklyn, New York.
Shields will make the first defense of her heavyweight title against Danielle Perkins on February 2 at Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan, which is Shields’ hometown.
Speaking to BoxingScene, Salita said: “I’ll tell you one thing, in Starrett City Boxing Club… One of the reasons why I was able to connect with Claressa in such a great way early in her career was when I was a kid, I grew up with Kisha Snow. I always respected women in boxing.”
Salita’s face lit up as he detailed the story.
“Kisha Snow was a national amateur boxing champion and a Golden Gloves champion,” Salita said. “She used to knock men out in the gym. She was ahead of her time.”
Snow remembers meeting Salita, but in a different way. Salita, from Ukraine, boxed in a gym full of mostly black and Latino fighters, and stood out. Salita could really fight. He could box well and he made a strong impression on Snow.
“I became like his groupie, basically,” Snow told BoxingScene. “Wherever Dmitriy went, I went.
“She just didn’t have the opportunity to make money because there really was no money in professional boxing for women at that time,” Salita said. “As an amateur, I traveled with her all around the country. We really grew close and she was like my big sister. I really understood the challenge of what women’s boxing was at that time. When I read about Claressa before the Olympics, I knew there was no better man or woman than Shields coming out of the Olympics.”
The experience forever molded the fighter-turned-promoter Salita, who knew Snow could have been a star. He thought back to Snow and how she captured the hearts of New York fans but she never had the opportunity. She didn’t get the exposure outside of New York.
“Seeing what Kisha had to go through really helped me and educated me on what women’s boxing is and the challenges that face women in boxing,” Salita said. “Because there was no real amateur program, women’s boxing wasn’t in the Olympics.”
Snow now lives in Pennsylvania. It is close to three decades since she electrified New York City audiences.
“She was a major figure on the New York boxing scene back in those days,” Thomas Gerbasi, the Boxing Writers of America Association 2025 Nat Fleischer award winner, said. “I remember being at one of her Golden Gloves fights and she got the biggest pop of the night. Unfortunately, the talent pool in her division was shallow and while she did get a couple of big fights, she couldn’t get the work she needed in the gym to translate into winning performances in those fights.”
That summed up the inherent problem. Snow fought in the women’s heavyweight division. The division had very few names. Even in 2025, the talent pool is limited even with the advancements of women’s boxing.
Monte Barrett, who fought for a heavyweight title in his professional career. knew Snow, who was trained by Jimmy O’Farrell, well.
“We didn’t look at her as Kisha,” Barrett said. “We looked at her as Big George [Foreman].”
“Back then, there were not a lot of women boxing. I used to spar with all the guys, all the time,” Snow said.
Snow, a self-described daddy’s girl, came to the gym out of her father’s interest in the sport and she never left.
“She was resilient,” Barrett said. “And she didn’t care. She wanted to fight.”
Despite loud applause when she fought in major New York City national tournaments, Snow’s career was short. She turned pro in 1998 and retired by 2002. Snow finished with a record of 6-2 (3 KOs), with her career unceremoniously ending with two losses. She was stopped by Vonda Ward and then lost a unanimous decision to Maratha Salazar in Vallejo, California.The fight was her last bout as a professional.
“She had that star potential,” Gerbasi said. “The talent pool hasn’t gotten any better at heavyweight, but I think if she fought in this era, fans outside of the NYC area would know her name.”
Seeing is believing. Salita had seen talent, but knows that talent alone doesn’t always achieve the desired results. Snow described her era of women’s boxing by saying: “It was really a novelty, women’s boxing. We needed people to take women’s boxing more seriously. I see myself as one of the pioneers, helping to get women’s boxing to be taken seriously by fighting good matches.”
Snow understood there was a limited number of opponents. She wanted to win a title. Still, she reflects fondly on her career.
“It was a fantastic journey,” Snow said. “I cannot lie.”
“She gave women a lot of confidence to follow their dreams,” Barrett added. “She was doing it because she loved the sport and she just liked fighting.”
Salita knows talent and timing matter. As Shields is on the brink of becoming a three-division undisputed champion, fighting in the weight class Snow once occupied, Salita is aware that the opportunities for women are not the same as men. His understanding has motivated him to help Shields and to help create equality in boxing for men and women. The friendship forged with Snow three decades ago led to an interesting outcome. Salita went on to promote Shields as an undisputed fighter in the division his friend, Snow, once dreamed of dominating.
“Claressa came at the right time with the right skills and the right vision to make the sport grow,” Salita said.
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