Claressa Shields has been a trail blazer for women’s boxing for many reasons, the most obvious being for her two Olympic Golds back to back during the era where female boxing was first allowed in the Olympics. Now she’s about to set her first significant record in the pro ranks.
Dan Rafael of ESPN has reported that Shields will feature on Showtime TV’s ‘New Generation’ series on March 10th in Detroit.
She will face off against a former world title challenger from HungarY. clearly Shields’ handlers have huge faith in their fighter.
And why wouldn’t they?
They story is a remarkable one of resolve and overcoming adversity, as many of the special ones in this special sport of boxing often are.
Claressa Shields did things the hard way without endorsements or sponsorship through her amateur career, even after winning her first Olympic Gold medal.
If history is anything to go by, this usually translates to a very hungry fighter in the pro ranks.
This news of female boxing receiving premium cable coverage in the States comes also at a time were women’s boxing continues to grow as a professional sport in Europe.
Notably, Ireland’s Katie Taylor and the UK’s Nicola Adams landed TV deals that will see their exposure and that of professional female boxing in Europe expand significantly in 2017.
Claressa Shields is 1-0 as a professional fighter and won her pro debut by unanimous decision over Franchon Crews in Las Vegas on November 19th, 2016.
