Shields outpoints Perkins to win 1st undisputed heavyweight bout in women's boxing

FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Claressa Shields unanimously outpointed Danielle Perkins on Sunday night in the first undisputed heavyweight bout in women’s boxing to remain undefeated.

Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist with titles in five divisions, was in control of the fight from the start. She knocked down Perkins, landing a right hand on her chin with 15 seconds left in the 10th and final round.

The 29-year-old Shields improved to 16-0 with three knockouts.

“I want a rematch with Hanna Gabriels,” she said.

The 42-year-old Perkins, who led St. John’s basketball team in blocked shots two decades ago, won her first five fights before losing to Shields.

Perkins, weighing 177-plus pounds and standing at 6 foot, was a few inches taller and a few inches heavier than Shields.

She took some of Shields' best shots early in the bout, hitting the canvas only when the referee pushed her when separating the fighters in the third round. After both boxers faded in the middle rounds, Shields closed the seventh with a flurry of punches.

Shields won gold medals at 165 pounds at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, making her the first boxer from the United States to win consecutive Olympic medals.

The powerful puncher looks at home in the 200-pound division, though also did at 175, 168, 160 and 154 pounds.

Shields knocked out WBC heavyweight champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse last summer in front of about 12,000 people at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, where the Red Wings play.

Shields took latest next fight to the home of the Ontario Hockey League's Flint Firebirds in an arena with about 6,000 seats and a floor filled with fans in folding chairs.

She said the bout could have been been New York, adding there was almost a deal with Barclays Center, Las Vegas in the Motor City.

It was important to Shields, though, to bring the first undisputed heavyweight bout in women's boxing history to her resilient hometown that was featured in the movie " The Fire Inside,” based on her life.

In the co-main event, Brandon Moore (17-1) won the vacant USBA heavyweight title after Skylar Lacy (8-1) was disqualified in the eighth round for unsportsmanlike conduct. Lacy used his left shoulder to drive Moore back and out of the ring and onto a table commentators were using for streaming service DAZN.

Shields, an advocate for women in boxing, was proud to push for females to be featured in four of the 10 fights in Flint.

Ashleyann Lozada Motta, who became the first Olympic women's boxer from Puerto Rico at the 2024 Paris Games, made his professional debut and won a unanimous decision in a feisty, four-round fight against Denise Moran (3-1).

Follow Larry Lage at  https://apnews.com/author/larry-lage

AP Boxing: https://apnews.com/hub/boxing

Claressa Shields, left, celebrates after defeating Danielle Perkins during the undisputed heavyweight title match on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025 at Dort Financial Center in Flint. (Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP)

Claressa Shields, left, fights with Danielle Perkins during the undisputed heavyweight title match on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025 at Dort Financial Center in Flint. (Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP)

Claressa Shields, right, exchanges punches with Danielle Perkins during the undisputed heavyweight title match on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025 at Dort Financial Center in Flint. (Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP)

Claressa Shields captures the undisputed heavyweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Danielle Perkins on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025 at Dort Financial Center in Flint. (Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP)

FILE - Middleweight champion Claressa Shields celebrates after defeating reigning WBC women's heavyweight boxing champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse of Quebec during a fight, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A state appeals court is being asked to dismiss felony voter misconduct charges against an Alaska resident born in American Samoa, one of numerous cases that have drawn attention to the complex citizenship status of people born in the U.S. territory.

In arguments Thursday, attorneys for Tupe Smith plan to ask the Alaska Court of Appeals in Anchorage to reverse a lower court's decision that let stand the indictment brought against her. Her supporters say she made an innocent mistake that does not merit charges, but the state contends Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship.

Prosecutors also have brought charges against 10 other people from American Samoa in the small Alaska community of Whittier, including Smith’s husband and her mother-in-law. American Samoa is the only U.S. territory where residents are not automatically granted citizenship by being born on American soil and instead are considered U.S. nationals. Paths to citizenship exist, such as naturalization, though that process can be expensive and cumbersome.

American Samoans can serve in the military, obtain U.S. passports and vote in elections in American Samoa, but they cannot hold public office in the U.S. or participate in most U.S. elections.

About 25 people gathered on a snowy street outside the courthouse before Thursday's hearing to support Smith. One woman, Fran Seager of Palmer, held a sign that said, “Support our Samoans. They are US nationals.”

Smith's husband, Michael Pese, thanked the American Samoa community in the Anchorage area. “If it wasn’t for you guys, I wouldn’t be strong enough to face this head on,” he said.

State Sen. Forrest Dunbar, a Democrat who attended the rally, said the Alaska Department of Law has limited resources.

“We should be going after people who are genuine criminals, who are violent criminals, or at least have the intent to deceive,” he said. “I do not think it is a good use of our limited state resources to go after these hardworking, taxpaying Alaskans who are not criminals.”

Smith was arrested after winning election to a regional school board in 2023. She said she relied on erroneous information from local election officials when she identified herself as a U.S. citizen on voter registration forms.

In a court filing in 2024, one of her previous attorneys said that when Smith answered questions from the Alaska state trooper who arrested her, she said she was aware that she could not vote in presidential elections but was “unaware of any other restrictions on her ability to vote.”

Smith said she marks herself as a U.S. national on paperwork. But when there was no such option on voter registration forms, she was told by city representatives that it was appropriate to mark U.S. citizen, according to the filing.

Smith “exercised what she believed was her right to vote in a local election. She did so without any intent to mislead or deceive anyone,” her current attorneys said in a filing in September. “Her belief that U.S. nationals may vote in local elections, which was supported by advice from City of Whittier election officials, was simply mistaken.”

The state has said Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship. Prosecutors pointed to the language on the voter application forms she filled out in 2020 and 2022, which explicitly said that if the applicant was not at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen, “do not complete this form, as you are not eligible to vote.”

The counts Smith was indicted on “did not have anything to do with her belief in her ability to vote in certain elections; rather they concerned the straightforward question of whether or not Smith intentionally and falsely swore she was a United States citizen,” Kayla Doyle, an assistant attorney general, said in court filings last year.

One of Smith's attorneys, Neil Weare, co-founder of the Washington-based Right to Democracy Project, said by email last week that if the appeals court lets stand the indictment, Alaska will be “the only state to our knowledge with such a low bar for felony voter fraud.”

Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska.

Michael Pese and his wife, Tupe Smith, stand outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter fraud case brought against her by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Michael Pese, left, his wife, Tupe Smith, and their son Maximus pose for a photo outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter fraud case brought against her by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

FILE - Tupe Smith poses for a photo outside the school in Whittier, Alaska, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)