Women's divisional rankings: Shields KOs Scott to reclaim a pair of titles and top spot at middleweight

Claressa Shields became a three-time women's middleweight champion with a sixth-round TKO victory over Kaye Scott at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Saturday night.

Shields (19-0, 4 KOs) used speed, power and body work to keep Scott on her back foot while capturing the WBA and WBC world titles. Scott had her moments, landing some clean punches when she managed to get inside. But Shields' three- and four-punch combinations were overwhelming, as Scott landed just 60 total punches compared to 92 for Shields.

In Round 6, Shields landed a straight right hand followed by a left hook that sent Scott stumbling backward to the canvas. Scott beat the count and continued, but moments later, with her back against the ropes, her corner threw in the towel and referee Joel Scobie ended the fight at the 1-minute, 38-second mark.

With the victory, Shields takes over the No. 1 spot at middleweight while maintaining her No. 1 ranking at heavyweight, where she is the undisputed champion. Scott drops one spot to No. 4.

Also on the card, Bernice Ferreira claimed the WBC women's junior lightweight championship after Caroline Veyre was disqualified for excessive holding. Referee Malik Waleed deducted two points from Veyre for holding before disqualifying her at 1 minute, 4 seconds of the eighth round.

Ferreira (11-0, 4 KOs), who turned professional three years ago at 31 years old, was fighting in her first world title bout. She controlled the contest with a powerful jab, repeatedly forcing Veyre to hold. Still, the disqualification came as a surprise given that Veyre was defending the belt. With the victory, Ferreira moves up to No. 3 in the division, while Veyre drops to No. 5.

Veyre (11-2, 0 KOs) won the title with a decision victory over Delfine Persoon in February. She was also deducted two points for holding in that fight.

Rankings are updated every Tuesday. They're based on recent bouts, head-to-head competition and the quality of opponent. As with almost everything, until fighters square off against one another, there is a layer of subjectivity to it. Fighters who haven't fought in 18 months and don't have a fight scheduled will be removed from the rankings until they fight again.

For a list of the current champions in all weight classes, click here. For women's P4P rankings, click here.

Jump to weight classes with changes: Middleweight | Junior lightweight

HEAVYWEIGHT (OVER 175+ POUNDS)

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT (UP TO 175 POUNDS)

SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT (UP TO 168 POUNDS)

MIDDLEWEIGHT (UP TO 160 POUNDS)

JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHT (UP TO 154 POUNDS)

WELTERWEIGHT (UP TO 147 POUNDS)

JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHT (UP TO 140 POUNDS)

LIGHTWEIGHT (UP TO 135 POUNDS)

JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHT (UP TO 130 POUNDS)

FEATHERWEIGHT (UP TO 126 POUNDS)

JUNIOR FEATHERWEIGHT (UP TO 122 POUNDS)

BANTAMWEIGHT (UP TO 118 POUNDS)

JUNIOR BANTAMWEIGHT (UP TO 115 POUNDS)

FLYWEIGHT (UP TO 112 POUNDS)

JUNIOR FLYWEIGHT (UP TO 108 POUNDS)

STRAWWEIGHT (UP TO 105 POUNDS)

ATOMWEIGHT (UP TO 102 POUNDS)