Danielle Perkins defeats Monika Harrison for second time
On the undercard of Shields versus Dicaire, heavyweight prospect Danielle Perkins (3-0, 1 KO’s) defeated Monika Harrison (2-2-1, 1 KO’s) by way of unanimous decision. It marked Perkins’ second professional victory over Harrison. The southpaw New York native first toppled Harrison on August 20, 2020 in her professional debut. That win also came by way of unanimous decision. In their second meeting, Perkins proved to be far more effective and successful. With the win she also picked up the WBC silver world heavyweight title
Like Shields who fought in the main event, Perkins is determined to become one of the main faces of women’s boxing. The southpaw certainly has a great foundation and a compelling story. She is an accomplished amateur who claimed a bronze medal in the 2018 AIBA Women’s world championships. The following years she captured the gold. As a well-rounded athlete, Perkins also played college basketball which morphed into a professional career. Through basketball the New Yorker was able to play all over the world.
Unfortunately in 2008, Perkins was struck by a car while crossing the street. The impact left her with a fractured skull, dislocated neck, a dislocated shoulder and paralyzed. Danielle Perkins refused to submit to this grim reality. Rather than accept the new limitations, Perkins fought to resume her previous life of athletics and independence. In order to seize her goals, Perkins first had to learn to walk again…which she did. Unable to play basketball anymore, she poured her hopes and dedication into the sport of boxing. All that work effort landed her a spot on the first all-female boxing pay-per-view in history.
DOMINATION
Right from the start, Perkins established her superior footwork by deftly floating along the perimeter of the ring. As she moved she peppered Harrison with jabs and consistently slid straight lefts through her guard. Harrison was game but between her inferior reach and slower feet and hands, she was incapable of landing anything with regularity. That generic format maintained through the first four rounds.
The greatest detriment to Harrison was her lead-filled feet. She was simply too slow to get inside punching range and do any damage. By the time that she threw her strikes, Perkins easily slipped or moved out of range. In the fifth round, Harrison was showing clear signs of fatigue and even appeared to have been hurt with a stiff left-hand along the ropes. After the deflating blow landed, Harrison languished on the ropes for the remainder of the closing round. Yet, before the end came, Harrison would trip and fall on the floor where she briefly lay trying to catch a break.
Harrison remained vigilant but had no answers or adjustments. Throughout the entire seventh round, Perkins scored with a jab-straight left 1-2 combo and crispy uppercuts at will. Unsurprisingly, when the bout went to the scorecards, Danielle Perkins won every round on all three cards. Despite being the far superior athlete in the ring, Perkins did show much room for improvement in terms of accuracy. It will be interesting to see where she goes from here.
By: Bakari Simpson
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