Claressa Shields and Christina Hammer will finally get their fight to crown women's boxing's best middleweight underway this spring.
Showtime announced that Shields and Hammer will fight for the undisputed WBA, WBO, WBC and IBF middleweight titles on April 13. The fight will headline a Showtime-televised card from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The two champions were originally scheduled to fight in November 2018, but it was postponed due to a now-resolved medical issue suffered by Hammer. Hammer, the current WBO champion, was moved to WBC Champion in Recess as a result of her medical issue and the WBC title became vacant.
Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, would go on to win a fight against Hannah Rankin on a Matchroom Boxing on DAZN card in November to unify the WBC, WBA and IBF titles. Shields fought three weeks later on HBO's final boxing card of 2018, retaining her titles with a unanimous decision win over Femke Hermans on December 8.
Hammer has held a world title since 2010 and is undefeated in 24 pro bouts with one no contest. Hammer returned to the ring on February 9 in her home country in Germany, easily defeating Elene Sikmashvili less than a minute into the second round of a non-title fight.
As of this writing, there are two other active undisputed champions in boxing today: cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk and long-time welterweight champion Cecilia Braekhus. The last time an undisputed middleweight champion was crowned regardless of gender was Jermain Taylor in 2005. The winner of Shields vs. Hammer will join Terence Crawford, Bernard Hopkins, Taylor, Usyk and Braekhus as the only boxers in history to unify the WBA, WBO, WBC and IBF titles in any weight class.
