Ivana Habazin: Tough Fight Not So Tough!
After losing every single round of her main event grudge match with the newly crowned WBC and WBO super welterweight champion Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (10-0, 2 KO’s), Ivana Habazin (20-4, 7 KO’s) remains relatively unbowed. Following three camps and three fight dates, Shields and Habazin finally got their chance to get their pound of flesh in the SHOWTIME boxing telecast.
Once all the woof tickets had been sold, and threats issued, it was Shields alone who did all the major damage in the ring. While T-Rex could not make good on stopping Habazin in six rounds or less, she did drop her Croatian foe with a nasty body shot and dominated all ten rounds. Yet, even in the face of all this, Habazin remained feisty in her post-fight conference.
“You know it was a tough fight, but it wasn’t so tough! I’m still here, still standing!”
THE FIRST LADY WOULD WIN!
It should be said though, that even in her defiance, Habazin did acknowledge that Shields was the better fighter. The disenchanted boxer would also admit Shields hurt her a number of times to the body.
“I give her credit for a liver shot. I think that even she didn’t realize that she hit me. It was the first shot, but I still kept moving. After the second shot, I knew I needed to take a break because maybe they would stop the fight and I didn’t want to quit so I tried my best.”
However, even as Habazin credited Shields with a number of good attributes, she still managed to slide in a couple digs as well. The main reason for T-Rex even fighting in the super welterweight division was in an effort to secure a bout with undisputed world welterweight champion “First Lady” Cecilia Braekhus (36-0, 9 KO’s).
The fight was to show that she could drop down in weight to meet Braekhus on some middle ground. Having competed against both, when inquired, Habazin expressed her feelings that she believed Shields would lose to the First Lady if they ever got it on in the squared-circle.
“She [Shields] doesn’t have power. She is constantly punching and that’s actually why she’s winning, you know? From all the fighters that I fought, the biggest puncher out of all of them is Cecilia Braekhus.
“I’m going to give more credit to Cecilia definitely and I know that fight is not going to happen 100%, but if they fought for example at 147, Cecilia is definitely going to win this fight.”
By: Bakari Simpson
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