Claressa Shields vs. Lani Daniels Fight Results: Shields Scores UD on DAZN

Daniels (11-3-2, 1 KO), 37, a New Zealand–born fighter of Māori heritage, entered the ring as the reigning IBF light heavyweight champion and a former titleholder at heavyweight. Confident and undeterred, she aspired to be the one to humble Shields. However, her early-round theatrics—smiling and laughing in an apparent attempt to disrupt Shields’ focus—had the opposite effect, serving only to galvanize the champion, who responded with a punishing and relentless attack.

With 30 seconds remaining in the second round, Shields cornered Daniels along the ropes and unleashed a pair of sharp right hands, asserting her dominance with clinical precision. As the round neared its conclusion, the two-time Olympic gold medalist once again pressed Daniels against the ropes, landing a clean sequence of lefts and rights that underscored her tactical superiority and unrelenting aggression.

In the fourth round, Shields, the only boxer to be crowned undisputed champion in three weight classes, began to commit deliberately to a sustained body attack, showcasing her tactical versatility. By the midpoint of the frame, punch statistics revealed a striking disparity—Shields had outlanded Daniels 32 to 6. The so-called “Smiling Assassin” was neither smiling nor delivering anything resembling an offensive threat.

By the fifth round, Daniels’ early bravado had visibly faded. Though she managed to keep Shields near the ropes for stretches of the action, she failed to land anything consequential. Shields (17-0, 3 KOs), unfazed, redirected the bout to the center of the ring, where she delivered a crisp combination that visibly staggered Daniels—her altered posture and demeanor offering silent testimony to the impact.

Round six offered more of the same, though Daniels adopted a noticeably more reckless approach—much to the detriment of her increasingly beleaguered nose. Shields remained composed, intercepting her advances with sharp jabs and punctuating the exchange with a well-timed overhand right that sent Daniels reeling.

With 43 seconds remaining in the seventh round, Daniels nearly went down after Shields landed a crisp, punishing right cross that landed right on the button.

Late in the eighth round, Shields unleashed a sustained body assault that visibly wore down Daniels, culminating in a powerful left hand to the head that left her clearly rattled. Lacking any discernible strategy, Daniels pressed forward with abandon, engaging in wild exchanges and absorbing nearly every punch Shields delivered—a reckless approach destined to invite more punishment than success.

In the end, it was a quintessential Shields fight—a commanding performance that underscored the stark disparity in skill, with one fighter operating on an entirely different plane than her overmatched opponent.

CompuBox statistics further underscored the lopsided nature of the bout. According to the renowned punch-tracking system, Shields connected on 167 of 535 punches, a 31% success rate, while Daniels landed just 41 of 240 attempts, a mere 17%. Perhaps most tellingly, Daniels failed to register a single landed punch in three separate rounds—including the opening two—a statistical indictment of her inability to mount any meaningful offense.

The reality remains: at heavyweight, Shields faces virtually no legitimate competition, owing largely to the scarcity of female boxers in the division. While the light heavyweight ranks offer a deeper talent pool and the prospect of marginally greater resistance, the truth is unambiguous—Shields would, in all likelihood, dispatch them with the same ease and precision that have defined her career to date.

In the co-main event, former junior middleweight titleholder Tony Harrison returned from a 28-month layoff, recovered from a ninth-round knockdown to outpoint Edward Diaz over 10 rounds.