Claressa Shields To Fight For Unified Middleweight Titles
After unifying world titles at super middleweight, Claressa Shields is now looking to become a unified champion at middleweight.
It was announced that Shields, the unified IBF and WBA Female super middleweight champion, will fight unified WBA and WBO Female junior middleweight champion Hanna Gabriels on June 22. The fight will be televised on Showtime and take place at the Masonic Temple in Detroit, Michigan, with the winner walking away with the IBF and WBA middleweight titles.
Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, won the two world titles in her fourth pro fight when she defeated Nikki Adler by TKO last August. Shields defended her titles in her last fight back in January when she defeated Nikki Adler by unanimous decision.
Gabriels became the unified junior middleweight champion on June 2016 when she got a TKO victory over Katia Alvarino. Gabriels retained his title twice before electing to move up in weight. Gabriels also briefly held a welterweight world title in 2009 until winning the WBO junior middleweight title the following year.
"I can't wait to get into the ring on June 22. I love the fight against Hanna Gabriels — champion versus champion, exactly the kind of fight that I want every time to take women's boxing to new heights," Shields said in a press release.
In the co-main event fight of the telecast, unified WBC and WBO middleweight champion Christina Hammer will defend her titles against Tori Nelson. Should Shields and Hammer win their respective bouts, then the two of them would face off for the undisputed middleweight titles later in the year, which would also be televised on Showtime.
