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Will door to pros open for Claressa Shields after she made American history?

Claressa Shields shows off her two gold medals after Sunday's win. (Getty)
Claressa Shields shows off her two gold medals after Sunday’s win. (Getty)

Medal count | Olympic schedule | Olympic news

RIO DE JANEIRO — Shortly after receiving a gold medal proclaiming her as women’s middleweight champion, American boxer Claressa Shields began fumbling for something in her jacket pocket.

Seconds later, she stood atop the podium singing along to the national anthem with two gold medals around her neck – the one she earned for demolishing Nouchka Fontun of the Netherlands on Sunday and the one she captured four years ago in London.

“You only get to win one Olympic gold medal at a time in boxing, and people didn’t give me my recognition for doing it the first time,” Shields said. “I was like, you know what, when I get on the podium, let me put on both, so people will always remember and never forget that I’m the first American boxer to win two Olympic gold medals.”

When Shields outclassed the middleweight division in London four years ago, she expected it to be her ticket to fame and fortune. Not only was she a 17-year-old Olympic champion overflowing with charisma, she also had a made-for-Hollywood story, a narrative that began with poverty, neglect and sexual violence and ended with a gold medal.

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What Shields learned is that women’s boxing remains a tough sell.

Gold medal-winning swimmers, gymnasts and soccer players land on cereal boxes, magazine covers and late-night talk shows, but there were few endorsement opportunities for a short-haired, muscular teenage girl with a taste for violence in the ring and no intention of apologizing for it. Even within the male-dominated sport of boxing, she didn’t receive the offers she expected to fight professionally and have her bouts air on prominent TV networks.

“My gold medal didn’t really mean a lot to the media, and I guess to the boxing world either,” Shields said. “I have a great story to tell. I have been through a lot in my life. I want to inspire people and give people just a little bit of hope. I remember when I was one of those little kids who didn’t have any hope. When I got just a little bit of hope, look how far I’ve come.”

Punching her way through that wall was one of Shields’ primary motivations this year as she took aim at repeating as Olympic champ. She hoped that becoming America’s first-ever two-time gold medalist would earn her more recognition than she’d received for amassing a 74-1 record and going undefeated the past four years.

A heavy favorite in her weight class, Shields displayed the bravado of a champion in Rio both inside and outside the ring. She often prepared for the Olympics sparring against the U.S. men because female competitors didn’t provide enough of a challenge. On Wednesday, she called herself “the best fighter here, male or female” and playfully chided a reporter for having the audacity to use the phrase, “if you get the gold medal.”

“If?” Shields scoffed. “I’m sorry?”

But something unexpected happened to Shields after watching American teammate and close friend Shakur Stevenson lose his gold medal bout on Saturday afternoon: She experienced a sudden crisis in confidence.

“Shakur is to me the best male fighter here, and when you’re the best male fighter here, you’re supposed to walk away with a gold medal,” Shields said. “The fact that he walked away with the silver, that’s what scared me. I’m the best female boxer, and I’m supposed to walk away with the gold medal. It scared me because it was like, ‘Wow, you could walk away with the silver also. You have to go out there and seal the deal.'”

Driven by her desire to avoid Stevenson’s fate and repeat as champion, Shields refocused on Sunday’s matchup against the second-ranked fighter in her weight class. She demanded that her corner give her an honest round-by-round assessment of who was winning so that there was no chance she would lose by split decision the way Stevenson did.

In reality, Shields need not have worried. There were times she seemed to toy with Fontun in the ring, dodging wild swings from her taller, longer-armed opponent with ease and then punishing her with a flurry of jabs and hooks immediately afterward. Late in the fourth round, when it became clear the only way Shields could lose was via knockout, she actually gestured at her opponent several times as if to say, “Why aren’t you attacking me?”

“I told her, ‘If you think you can beat me, let’s go,'” Shields said. “‘I hit you with a hard shot. Hit me back.'”

Too often Fontun did not hit back. Thus, Shields was so sure she had won that she raised her own hand, pumped her fist and smiled long before the unanimous decision was announced.

Once it became official, Shields’ celebration only escalated. She did a cartwheel in the ring, grabbed an American flag from the stands and then sprinted around the ring with the flag trailing behind her like a cape.

Shields doesn’t know if repeating as Olympic champion will bring her more attention than her first victory did, but she said she already has fielded calls about fighting professionally on TV in the near future.

The one thing Shields knows for sure is that if she fights again in Tokyo in 2020 and wins a third gold, that will be the only medal she’ll wear during the post-match ceremony.

Said Shields, as she held out her two gold medals for reporters to see, “This is killing my neck.”

Claressa Shields celebrates after winning her second Olympic gold medal. (Getty)
Claressa Shields celebrates after winning her second Olympic gold medal. (Getty)