I have been following Claressa Shields since I first saw her box at the Police Athletic League Tournament in Toledo, OH last November. I had never heard of her before. Most people hadn’t. She was just 16 and that was her first open tournament with women ages 17-34. I stopped mid-conversation with someone to go photograph her and I have been documenting. She won that tournament. In fact, won Most Outstanding Boxer of the whole tournament. Then she went on to do the same at the Olympic Trials in Spokane, WA in February.

The New York Times Magazine published my first story about Claressa in February. WNYC’s WomenBox series the next endeavor. Along with Marianne McCune, we have documented many of the women on their way to be the first women to box in the Olympics. And then I collaborated with Joe Richman and Samara Freemark of RadioDiaries.org to produce this gem of a story with Claressa.