CLARESSA SHIELDS-LANI DANIELS CARD GENERATES ALMOST $1.5 MILLION GATE IN DETROIT
Claressa Shields’ third time fighting at Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit was definitely the charm.
The Ring has learned that the card Shields headlined there Saturday night generated nearly a $1.5 million live gate, which accounted for more than the combined ticket revenue from her first two fights at the home venue of the NBA’s Pistons and NHL’s Red Wings. Shields revealed during her post-fight press conference early Sunday morning that the event was sold out.
“Out of 15,369 seats,” Shields said, “we sold 15,369 seats. … For one, I just wanna thank God because I have been praying for a sold-out LCA since the first time I fought here. And I didn’t think it was possible with just people from Flint and Detroit. And I was right about that.
“We had to bring Brooklyn, New York, Texas, Ohio, the UK. We had to bring New Zealand. We had to bring Atlanta. Miami in the house, Florida. They in here from everywhere — Texas, Cali. That’s what it was gonna take to fill this place up.”
Shields (17-0, 3 KOs), The Ring’s No. 1 fighter pound-for-pound in women’s boxing, decisively defeated New Zealand’s Lani Daniels by unanimous decision in a 10-round main event DAZN streamed live. Shields,30, retained her IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight titles by beating Daniels (11-3-2, 1 KO).
Reaching seven figures in gate receipts was a milestone for Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who won world titles in five weight classes. The Flint, Michigan, native’s first fight in Detroit eight years ago occurred at a venue, MGM Grand Detroit, that held approximately 500.
Shields has since become an undisputed champion at middleweight, junior middleweight and heavyweight. A motion picture based on her inspiring life story, “The Fire Inside,” was released in theaters nationwide on Christmas Day.
Nine of her 17 professional fights have taken place in Detroit or Flint.
“Everybody who from Flint and Michigan, I thank you for always showing up and being consistent,” said Shields, who had Grammy-nominated rap artist Rick Ross walk her into the ring Saturday. “Because I knew at least 11,000 from Flint and Detroit would be here. But the last 5,000 that came is from all over, around the world. And I’m just so grateful for that. I thank each and every one of y’all that came, that spent money, that bought tickets, who flew out here, got y’all hotels. Listen, y’all had Rick Ross up at a bad hotel because all the hotels was sold out.”
She also acknowledged help selling tickets from Detroit native Tony Harrison, a former WBC 154-pound champ who fought in the co-feature, and six other fighters from Flint and the Detroit area who competed on the undercard.
