Very happy Claressa won gold in women’s boxing! The USA men’s program has fallen to shit — once it was Ali, Foreman, De La Hoya — now the women, in their first time at the Olympics, have two medalists! MAYBE NEXT TIME NBC WILL TELEVISE THE FIGHTS!
Claressa is 17 years old, from Flint, MI. I watched her fight online today and it was ferocious. She’s super rowdy, even sticking her tongue out at opponents during bouts, and says she things like:
“If a girl gonna stand right there in front of me, why not hit her?”
Just watching this match, with the tongue and the bobbing and weaving with her guard down, would’ve made me a Shields fan, but listening to this Radio Diaries story had me loving this girl month before I saw her fight. That her immensely compelling, inspiring story wasn’t highlighted by NBC is ridiculous. But judging by the look she had on her face while standing on that podium, she isn’t feeling too burned.
