The Atlantic City Boxing Match That Could Change The Sport For Women

Claressa Shields (left) weighing in against Ivana Habazin (right) ahead of their welterweight champion fight in Atlantic City.

In her three years fighting as a pro in the ring, Claressa Shields is undefeated. With a 9-0 record, six world titles in two weight divisions, the 24-year-old from Flint, MI is looking to add another weight class to her win list.

On Friday, Jan. 9, she'll get her chance, when she faces off against former welterweight world champion Ivana Habazin in Atlantic City, NJ. And if she wins, some think she could propel women's boxing to new heights and new audiences in the U.S.

Washington Post reporter Liz Clarke joined WNYC's Richard Hake to discuss Shield's career and what her win could mean for the sport.

 

WNYC transcripts are created on a rush deadline and the text may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record is the audio record.

Richard Hake: It's Morning Edition on WNYC. I'm Richard Hake. A fight tomorrow in New Jersey could set a new record for boxing. 24 year old Claressa shields will face former welterweight World Champion Ivana Habazin of Croatia in Atlantic City. Judging from her comments earlier this week, Shields is feeling confident.


Claressa Shields: I trained so hard for Ivana, she gonna be sick after the fight. Her and her whole team because she putting on a hard work for nothing is nothing she can do to beat me.


Richard Hake: Washington Post reporter Liz Clark has written about shields and she joins us now Liz. Good morning.

Liz Clarke: Good morning, thanks for having me, Richard.

Richard Hake: So why is this match so significant?

Liz Clarke: Oh boy. There are multiple titles on the line. But probably most important for Claressa, assuming she wins this fight, she'll have won titles in three different weight divisions in a shorter amount of time then any man or woman has ever done. It's quite an ambitious task.

Richard Hake: Now she did say that if she wins, her victory will bring a lot more attention to women's boxing. Do you think that will happen?

Liz Clarke: No doubt it will. Now the bar is pretty low. Women's boxing still doesn't have the audience that you know mixed martial arts has. There's a younger demographic for that form of combat sports for women. Boxing tends to have a bit of an older demographic and I think there's still some unease about seeing women just bludgeoning each other in the ring. So there are a lot of people in Claressa's corner and in the corner of women's boxing, who feel that it's going to grow and there's lots of reasons to say Claressa really is the charismatic figure to lift women's boxing.


Richard Hake: Now, Liz, I know you'll be ringside in Atlantic City. What will you be watching for?


Liz Clarke: Well, I have covered Claressa as an Olympic athlete where men and women wear headgear and boxing is scored differently. I've not covered pro boxing with no headgear where it's a much more brutal sport. So I'm kind of anxious about that. But I'll also be looking for Claressa's direct punches. She punches less frequently but harder now than she did as an amateur. And she has promised to deliver a knockout which will be tough because women's boxing is just two-minute rounds as opposed to three. It's harder to knock someone out without that extra minute.

Richard Hake: Right Liz Clark, reporter for The Washington Post, Liz, thanks so much.

Liz Clarke: Thank you.