Shields dominated Crews-Dezurn and won their rematch by unanimous decision Sunday night at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. Judges Rosemary Gross, Waleska Roldan and Martha Tremblay all scored their 10-round heavyweight title fight a shutout for Shields, 100-90 apiece, in a main event DAZN streamed worldwide.

Shields, ranked No. 2 on The Ring’s pound-for-pound list, beat Crews-Dezurn even more convincingly than when she won their pro debuts, a four-round super middleweight match, by unanimous decision in November 2016.

“It felt like I had to take my time,” Shields told DAZN’s Chris Mannix. “Franchon hits hard, man, and she’s tough. You gotta be very tricky with her. But like I said, she was trying to cause a upset today and got me with some shots. But Franchon is exactly what we think she is, the ‘Heavy-Hitting Diva.’ And that’s one of the best fights I’ve been in in my professional career, especially at 10 rounds.”

Shields – a five-division champion from Flint, Michigan – was at least a 20-1 favorite according to most sportsbooks. She improved to 18-0 (3 KOs), but the two-time Olympic gold medalist went the distance for the 13th time in her past 14 fights.

Shields, 30, also retained her IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight titles. Crews-Dezurn, 38, is 2-2 in her past four fights, but she still holds the WBA and WBC super middleweight belts.

Baltimore’s Crews-Dezurn (10-3, 2 KOs, 1 NC) has lost only twice to Shields and to Savannah Marshall (13-2, 10 KOs), who beat her by majority decision in July 2023.

Her second defeat to Shields was Crews-Dezurn’s most lopsided loss.

About the only unknown entering the 10th round Sunday night was whether Shields would press for a knockout. She started the final round slowly, and although she opened up in the second half of it, Crews-Dezurn never appeared on the verge of going down.

Shields and Crews-Dezurn embraced after the final bell, despite the animosity that boiled over between these friends at their weigh-in Saturday and on social media well into Sunday.

The pace slowed during the ninth round until Shields unloaded on Crews-Dezurn’s body and head in its final few seconds. By then, Crews-Dezurn clearly needed an unlikely knockout to win.

It became obvious by the eighth round that a gassed Crews-Dezurn abandoned any semblance of a game plan and simply wanted to hold her way to the final bell. Shields landed hard punches when she created separation, though, and continued to dominate the action.

Crews-Dezurn held as best she could in the seventh round, but a relentless Shields hit her with an array of power punches to widen her lead on the cards. Shields bombarded a defenseless, fatigued Crews-Dezurn with overhand rights and left hooks throughout a sixth round she dominated.

Shields repeatedly landed right hands in exchanges during a one-sided fifth round.

A faster, sharper Shields let her hands go through a fourth round she completely controlled. Shields landed several right hands during an entertaining exchange near the end of the third round.

Shields’ faster hands and combination punching forced Crews-Dezurn to fight from a distance for much of the second round. Toward the end of that round, however, Crews-Dezurn connected with an overhand right.

Shields caught Crews-Dezurn with a combination a couple seconds before the first round ended.

A right hand by Crews-Dezurn knocked Shields into the ropes with just over 40 seconds to go in the opening round. Crews-Dezurn bullied Shields into a corner as soon as their bout began and they traded hard shots.

“I wanted to make sure I could get [used to] her timing and her jab,” Shields said. “Franchon may be shorter than me, but she’s longer. It always has been like that since our amateur days. She got a real good stick, and when she put it out there, her right hand come right behind it, so like I said, I had to watch myself and I had to get real tricky with her.

"I think today I showcased my skills – my offense, my defense, my body shots. And I almost had her out in round seven, but she just wouldn’t go.” Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing.