GRADES: CLARESSA SHIELDS, ERIK BAZINYAN, ARDREAL HOLMES & MORE

By: Jay Calderon

So, we certainly didn't have the busiest of weekends. A bit of a change of pace from the last few where it felt like an overload of fights on both sides of the Atlantic.

On Thursday on ESPN, we had undefeated Erik Bazinyan narrowly escape with his record in tact against little-regarded Jose De Jesus Macias in Montreal.

Then, on Saturday in Detroit, and live on DAZN, we had undisputed Middleweight queen pen Claressa Shields defend his crown against Maricela Cornejo. The under card saw a questionable decision go the way of Ardreal Holmes as well.

So, without much more rambling, let's hand out these Grades:

CLARESSA SHIELDS: A
RESULT: DEF. MARICELA CORNEJO, 10UD (MIDDLEWEIGHT)

An undisputed champion of the world should easily dominate a late replacement for that has a few losses to their credit and hasn't truly passed the tests at the top level.

Claressa Shields did just that against Maricela Cornejo.

Originally set up to face former foe Hanna Gabriels, Shields had to adjust to a new dance partner when The aforementioned Gabriels tested positive for a banned substance.

Did it get to her? Did Shields have issues on the night, unable to switch from one opponent to the next? Nope. Not even close. She did what Claressa Shields has done most of her career: dominate from bell to bell.

All you could possibly argue is she didn't finish Cornejo off, but that's nitpicking at that point.

ARDREAL HOLMES: C-
RESULT: WENDY TOUSSAINT, 8TDEC. (

In defense of Ardreal Holmes, Wendy Toussaint was a lot tougher than many might have expected (one of the toughest Wendy's since Richter, different spelling be damned).

Toussaint was rough, made it ugly at times. That said, Toussaint wasn't going to be given any favors or close rounds (obviously), so that had to be the game plan going in.

Still, Holmes didn't seems to handle the adversity all that well. When the action heated up, Holmes was most ineffective up against the ropes and seemed uninterested or unable to fight his way out of it.

Perhaps this is the performance that teaches Holmes, and he's prepared for the potential resistence his foes will bring forth in fufute fights. Still, he escapes with an unpopular win and just barely moves on for now.

WENDY TOUSSAINT: B-
RESULT: LOSS TO ARDREAL HOLMES, 8TDEC. (JR. MIDDLEWEIGHT)

Well, this is a tough one to grade when considering Wendy Toussaint. On the one hand, the performance itself should be commended and you want the grade to reflect that.

On the other hand, he dropped a technical decision to Ardreal Holmes, whether or not the cards appeared to reflect the action in most people's minds.

Ultimately, I feel as though I have to give Toussaint a better grade than Ardreal, regardless of the official result. This mark is based on my opinion of the performance, not the three judge's opinions of the rounds.

Here's hoping for Tousaaint's sake he gets another solid chance to get both the praise and the result a fighter is looking for on the night.

ERIK BAZINYAN: C-
RESULT: DEF. JOSE DE JESUS MACIAS, 10UD (SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT)

This is one of those fights where looking at the scores really does begin to tell the story of the contest itself.

Based on the wide unanimous decision in favor of Erik Bazinyan, you would imagine he comfortably and soundly defeated little-known Jose De Jesus Macias over the distance. However, the last four rounds of that contest tell you otherwise.

Bazinyan was badly hurt in the seventh, struggled in the eighth and ninth and seemed to creep across the finish line by the final bell. However you scored this fight, it was closer than the judges had it, and way closer than Team Bazinyan would have preferred.

This is the second step up for Bazinyan (the first being a less questionable decision win over Alantez Fox), and both times we have been left with more questions than answers.

LINKS:

- SCHEDULE & ODDS

- RESULTS

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