Arturs Ahmetovs Says When He Dropped Claressa’s Shields The Knockdown Was Legal
Recently, Claressa Shields was a guest on the sports podcast Nightcap with hosts Shannon Sharpe and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson. Shields had a heated discussion with Sharpe about the current hot button topic.
Shields was talking about his belief that he can defeat Rolando “Rolly” Romero, who is the WBA welterweight champion. Sharpe disagrees, pointing out that Romero is a man and a skilled boxer who hits hard.
Shield replied that when he trains, he always looks down on men. He then goes back to the sparring session where he says insults are played.
“That guy’s a fraud. He didn’t have any cooking in his gloves,” Shields said. “And if it’s not true, why haven’t he and his coach sued me yet?”
Shields continued, “His trainer gave him some old gloves that he said he got from Roberto Duran as a gift. That’s what this man, Derik Santos, the trainer said. The gloves had zero padding on them and he caught me with that hook.”
Back in 2023, when the allegations first came to light, coach Derik Santos addressed the incident when he appeared as a guest on ProBox TV. Santos said he never met Roberto Duran and that the gloves were standard 16-ounce gloves.
Recently, Claressa Shields former sparring partner Arturs “Triple A” Ahmetovs (6-1, 2 KOs) spoke with Vince DWriter about the 2018 layoffs.
“I didn’t want to work that hard, but the combination I trained for went into reflex. He came out aggressive, and it came out worse than I intended,” Ahmetovs said.
Arturs Ahmetovs denies allegations of using defective gloves. He responded by saying, “You can see in the video that they were normal gloves.”
Ahmetovs said he and Claressa Shields played doubles. The first time was a simple spar, and the second time Shields got aggressive and was caught with an accurate shot.
A year after the famous sparring session, Arturs Ahmetovs made his boxing debut in March 2019 when he stopped Demetrius Wilson in the second round. Ahmetovs would go on to win his next four belts.
Ironically, in his sixth professional fight, Ahmetovs was stopped in the second round by Rolly Romero. Ahmetovs later bounced back and scored a unanimous decision victory over Vladyslav Baranov.
The player from Riga, Latvia saw his professional career interrupted when his visa expired. Ahmetovs tried to make a comeback three years ago, but each time the fight was scheduled it ended up being canceled.
At the moment Arturs Ahmetovs is not working, as his personal schedule consists of training and training. Ahmetovs admits that he would consider returning if he could find a good team with strong finances and a strong technical base.
Regarding the controversial incident, Arturs Ahmetovs still insists that Claressa Shields was killed because she fired a sharp shot. The distracted gloves, he insists, had nothing to do with Shields landing on the canvas.
Arturs Ahmetovs said the day he threw Claressa Shields he was wearing 16 ounce standard gloves. When asked why he never sued Shields, Ahmetovs replied, “In my country it’s not common to sue someone for speaking out.”
Photo Credit: Arturs Ahmetovs Instagram
