THE self-proclaimed “world’s biggest yo-yo” is back, and doing what yo-yos do.
Former heavyweight champion Lani Daniels went down to light-heavyweight and won a title there, and is now heading back to heavyweight to fight arguably the biggest star in women’s boxing on Saturday night.
And after that? Well, super-middleweight is the target, naturally.
“My best weight is ideally around 175lbs,” says Daniels, who in her adult life has weighed as much as 240lbs and as little as 158lbs.
The 37-year-old New Zealander admits to being prone to gaining weight when she’s not boxing, but at the same time struggles to keep her weight up when she is.
“If you’re training hard, it’s hard to stay at heavyweight,” she says. “It’s the opposite [to what boxers usually experience] – you’re trying to keep the weight on.
“I eat plenty of carbs, protein, heaps of rice, big portions of food. It sounds good, eating all that, but when you’re having to do it, it can be a chore in itself. But I’d much rather that problem than the opposite!”
Saturday will see Daniels challenge Claressa Shields for the undisputed heavyweight championship, but in doing so expects to only weigh “around 178lbs”. That is just 3lbs above the light-heavyweight limit, but in practice, the major sanctioning bodies consider any woman over 175lbs to be a heavyweight, due to the lower number of female competitors over a certain size. Daniels weighed between 180¼lbs and 188lbs last time she operated in the division.
While the heavyweights often prove the biggest attractions and command the biggest purses in men’s boxing, that has been far from the case with the women.
Or, at least that was the case until Shields bulked up to join the big girls.
The self-proclaimed GWOAT – Greatest Woman Of All Time – backs up this boast with an unblemished 16-0, 3 KOs, record that includes world titles in every division from super-welterweight and up.
Currently, she holds all four major belts at heavyweight, but this would appear to be more of a marketing ploy than a genuine athletic achievement, given Shields has weighed just 174¾lbs and 173½lbs in her two “heavyweight” fights.
“It would have been a better fight at a lighter weight,” concedes Daniels. “Women heavyweights aren’t naturally well built. If they were training and dieting [properly], they’d be super-middles.”
Still, Daniels, as the B-side to one of the premier attractions in the female code, wasn’t in the position to dictate terms. She is the reigning IBF 175lbs champion, and given Shields has never even weighed that high, it might have made more sense for the two of them to fight at that weight, but make no mistake – it’s the Shields show, for Shields’ titles, in Shields’ hometown of Detroit.
And Daniels was happy to oblige.
“It wasn’t the plan [to return to heavyweight], but it’s where I get the best fight,” she says. “If I could choose, I’d fight lighter. It’s more challenging [fighting at a lower weight]; a lot more punches. You need higher endurance.”
That’s something Daniels possesses, especially at light-heavy. In winning and defending the IBF 175lbs title – and weighing just a whisper over super-middle as she did so – ‘The Smiling Assassin’ was fleet of foot, with sharp defensive reflexes and fast hands that fired punches with versatility, and she maintained a hot pace over the 10-round distance both times.
Clearly, these are attributes she would not wish to compromise by gaining too many pounds, and attributes with which she believes she can shock Shields.
“I think she thinks it’s easier at heavyweight, and that’s why she’s there,” says Daniels.
“The good thing is, she doesn’t really know me. But I’m going to fight my fight, and take the fight to her. I’ll show the world what I can do.”
And whatever she shows, indeed the world will be watching, with the fight being broadcast on DAZN. For many, it will be their first time they’ve seen Daniels, who has yet to box outside New Zealand.
It adds to an already daunting task, but Daniels, from Pipiwai, a tiny village in New Zealand’s North Island with a population of less than 150, is looking forward to it, and feels comfortable in the role of little-known underdog.
“With Shields being such a big star, I don’t need to do anything [to sell the fight],” she says.
“That’s a blessing in itself. I don’t need to bring in the crowd, I just worry about fighting. I’ve been able to focus on myself. I’m learning more about myself, which I’m absolutely loving.
“But it’s really exciting, being part of a big event like this. I enjoyed the press conferences.”
Daniels travelled over to the US to take part in the promotion’s press tour before returning to New Zealand to finish her fight camp. In doing so, she came face-to-face with Shields several times, but was not intimidated by the notoriously brash trash-talker. Rather, she was enraptured.
“I felt like she wasn’t sure how to take me,” she says. “I expected her to be a bit more aggressive. It almost appeared like she was wanting me to bite, to give her a reason to bite back. But it’s not really my kind of thing; I’d just look awkward.
“But it was nice to see her, as I’m still a bit of a fan girl. The first time, I was like ‘wow!’
“She’s such a big name and has brought so much attention to women’s boxing. You can’t argue with her achievements.”
The “fan girl” in Daniels is also keen on Savannah Marshall, Britain’s former super-middleweight champion and high-profile rival of Shields.
She credits Marshall as her inspiration for taking boxing seriously, after watching her in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, when Daniels was a budding amateur with just a handful of bouts under her belt.
Daniels would love to cap off her career with a fight against her idol – and that would mean yo-yoing all the way down to super-middleweight.
“Yeah, Savannah is the dream fight,” she says. “I wanna come over to the UK. That’s the fight I want, and if I don’t fight her next, I’ll hang up the gloves.”
It’s something Daniels has done before. There was a deliberate two-and-a-half-year hiatus in 2019-2022 that followed a patch of poor form, until that aforementioned weight gain led her to return to the ring, and she even considered retiring from boxing in the wake of her biggest win, the IBF heavyweight title success against Alrie Meleisea in May 2023.
She thought then that she had nothing more to achieve, which, with hindsight, was clearly not true. Two years later, Daniels has added a second world title and is heading into the biggest fight of her 11-2-2, 1 KO, career.
“I’m glad I listened to my intuition [to fight on],” she says. “Now, I am where I’m supposed to be. I was born to be here.”
Here being on the big stage, but with no illusions about the size of the task.
“All the odds are against me,” she admits. “I’m expecting it to be quite loud [thanks to Shields’ hometown fans inside the Little Ceasars Arena], so I need to win convincingly, take it in my own hands if I wanna win.
“She’s a fighter, she’s got a bit of dog in her, but I’m stronger and faster. I think it’s going to be a really entertaining fight”
