Recently, Claressa Shields was a guest on the sports podcast Nightcap with hosts Shannon Sharpe and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson. Shields had an intense conversation with Sharpe about a current hot button topic.
Shields spoke about her belief that she can beat WBA welterweight champion Rolando “Rolly” Romero. Sharpe vehemently disagreed, pointing out that Romero is a man and a tough, skilled professional boxer.
Shields responded by saying that when she trains, she always saves against men. She then revisited the infamous sparring session in which she claims foul play took place.
“That guy is a cheat. He had no padding in his gloves,” Shields said. “And if that’s not true, why haven’t he and his trainer sued me yet? That guy, I lied to him the week before and he was mad and he didn’t like it.”
Shields went on to say, “His trainer gave him a pair of worn gloves that he said he got from Roberto Duran as a gift. That’s what the man said, Derik Santos, the trainer. The gloves had no padding in them and he caught me with that hook.”
In 2023, when the allegations were initially brought to light, trainer Derik Santos spoke about the incident when he appeared as a guest on ProBox TV. Santos said he never met Roberto Duran and that the gloves were regular 16-ounce gloves.
Recently, Claressa Shields’ former sparring partner Arturs “Triple A” Ahmetovs (6-1, 2 KOs) spoke with Vince DWriter about the 2018 discount.
“I didn’t want to go that hard, but the combinations I trained for kicked in on reflex. She came out aggressively, and it came out a little harder than I intended,” Ahmetovs said.
Arturs Ahmetovs denies the accusations of using tampered gloves. He defended himself by saying: “On the video you can see they were normal gloves.”
Ahmetovs said he and Claressa Shields saved twice. The first time was a light spar, and the second time Shields got aggressive and was caught by a precise shot.
The following year after the infamous sparring session, Arturs Ahmetovs made his professional boxing debut in March 2019 when he stopped Demetrius Wilson in the second round. Ahmetovs would go on to win his next four matches.
Ironically, in his sixth professional bout, Ahmetovs was stopped in the second round by Rolly Romero. Ahmetovs later bounced back and scored a unanimous decision win over Vladyslav Baranov.
The native of Riga, Latvia saw his professional career derail when his visa expired. Ahmetovs tried to make a comeback three years ago, but every time a fight was scheduled, it ended up being canceled.
Currently Arturs Ahmetovs is not active as his personal schedule consists of training and coaching. Ahmetovs admits he would consider making a comeback if he could find a good team with solid financing and a strong technical base.
On the controversial sparring incident, Arturs Ahmetovs is adamant that Claressa Shields was dropped because he landed a sharp shot. Engineered gloves, he insists, had nothing to do with Shields going down to the canvas.
Arturs Ahmetovs said that on the day he dropped Claressa Shields, he was wearing standard 16-ounce gloves. When asked why he never sued Shields, Ahmetovs responded by saying, “In my country, it’s not common to sue someone for talking.”
Photo credit: Arturs Ahmetovs Instagram
