Not According To Plan: Brave Abigail Montes Shocks Claressa Shields By MMA Split Decision
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Las Vegas, NV (October 28th, 2021)– Female boxing world champions like Claressa Shields have taken the Mixed Martial Arts MMA route of late because opportunities to make big money remain extremely limited for even the best female professional boxers. Perhaps, if more money opportunities were available for boxing females, they would stay between the four ring posts instead of seeking out the MMA octagons.
So, in a minor upset, a shock to some, anything but a surprise to others, two division female world boxing champion Claressa “T-Rex” Shields of Flint, Michigan, 11-0 as Female World Welterweight and Middleweight champion, now 1-1 MMA, lost her second MMA bout by three round split decision to Mexico’s Abigail “Brave” Montes, Wednesday night, September 27, 2021, at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. TO date, Shields has only been beaten as an amateur and professional once previously, losing a four round decision to Savannah “The Silent Assassin” Marshall in the 2012 AIBA Women’s World Championship amateur preliminaries. Marshall, also 11-0 as a pro, holds the WBO Female World Middleweight championship, while Shields holds the WBC, WBA IBF and WBF Female World middleweight titles, so a rematch with Marshall could be in her future in 2022.
No doubt about it, the nickname of Montes made a statement. Montes, in her American debut, took on the dangerous Shields, giving away ten pounds in weight at 145 pounds and four inches in height at 5’4″. Montes found holes immediately in Shields striking ability, and went to work with her game plan.
Montes, now 3-0 with one knockout, Guadalajara, Mexico, remains unbeaten. She fought her first two bouts in her native Mexico, scoring a second round technical knockout in April 2021 in Los Mochis over Teresita DeJesus Lopez in the iKon Fighting Federation.
Montes smartly pinned Shields to the cage for much of the opening round, preventing Shields from having size and speed advantage. Her mouth bloodied from Shields in round two, Montes took Shields to the mat for a takedown and threw right hands, with Shields countering with lefts and rights on the floor. In the third round, Montes again took Shields to the mat, throwing left hands, while the frustrated, tiring Shields was suddenly unable to land any counterpunches of significance. Montes, in the end, had a keen game plan which worked, either to pin Shields to the cage and brawl inside, or take Shields down to the mat and brawl, taking away the boxing element. Montes executed her game plan to perfection.
The win by Montes begs the question of whether male or female boxers have any business attempting to seroconvert to the MMA game. Both MMA and boxing are open to all competitors male or female, amateur or professional. However, they are drastically different sports. Some top female boxers chase the MMA money, because, let’s face it, female boxing is not of great interest, even for well promoted and hyped boxers like Claressa Shields and Katie Taylor.
One cannot blame the best female boxers for going the MMA route. To date, the majority of female boxers have yet not proven to have the polish and pizzazz to succeed on the MMA side at the highest levels on boxing skill. Conversely, Chris Algieri and Conor McGregor have gone from MMA to boxing with mixed results. Shields should stick to boxing in the future. Shields is not the next MMA Wonder Woman.
As to Shields using reputation advantage or the intimidation factor, it appeared Montes, who said nothing, did not know who Shields was or anything about her both before and after her MMA bout with Shields, and didn’t care, flying back to Mexico without the slightest interest in Shields. Judging by the face of Shields during her time with her back on the mat grappling with Montes, her aura of invincibility has been exposed. Perhaps, without ego, the MMA experience of Shields will serve her well as she continues her boxing career, so long as she realizes the MMA route for female boxers is not necessarily the financial and physical holy grail.
Full results of 2021 PFL Championship include:
MAIN CARD (ESPN2, ESPN+)
- Kayla Harrison def. Taylor Guardado via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 4:00 –women’s lightweight final
- Ray Cooper III def. Magomed Magomedkerimov via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 3:02 – welterweight final
- Abigail Montes def. Claressa Shields via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Bruno Cappelozza def. Ante Delija via unanimous decision (49-45, 49-45, 48-46) – heavyweight final
- Movlid Khaybulaev def. Chris Wade via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) – featherweight final
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+)
- Antonio Carlos Junior def. Marthin Hamlet via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:49 – light heavyweight final
- Raush Manfio def. Loik Radzhabov via unanimous decision (48-46, 48-46, 49-46)– lightweight final
- Jordan Young def. Omari Akhmedov via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:32
- Julia Budd def. Kaitlin Young via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Don Madge def. Nathan Williams via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:15
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