I think Claressa Shields will win by unanimous decision with a commanding lead; I don’t think the fight will end in a stoppage, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Maricela Cornejo gets dropped at least once.
Shields is the more elusive fighter; in fact, Cornejo generally keeps her head on the centre-line and even drops her hands on the retreat, which will make her vulnerable to Shield’s offence.
Shields will use her head-movement to setup her lead and rear hand counters, I think these will come in the form of the uppercut.
Shields is much more accomplished in her career; her most notable wins are: Savannah Marshall, Ema Kozin and Christina Hammer etc.
Shields is the younger boxer by approximately 8 years, giving her a significant youth advantage over Cornejo, who is 36 years of age.
Despite having the lower knockout percentage, I think Shield’s punch power will have more of an effect in this fight compared to Cornejo.
Finally, Shields has the shorter reach by 4 inches (68″ compared to 72″), and a shorter height by 2 inches (5′ 8″ compared to 5″10); still, this doesn’t mean that Shields will have to fight exclusively on the inside, but I do think that shields will be working counter punches from the inside, and will have most of her success within this paradigm.
