The dust has settled and it seems like Claressa Shields and Ivana Habazin will finally get their junior middleweight title shot.
Both Shields and Habazin arrived at the weigh-ins for their WBO and WBC world title fights and both fighters came in under the 154-pound limit. The fight will headline the January 10 Showtime Boxing card from Atlantic City.
This is the third time both fighters attempted to make a title fight possible with the two previous attempts forcing the bout to be postponed. The fight was originally planned for August with only the WBO title on the line but it was postponed due to Shields injuring her right knee in June.
The fight was then rescheduled for October 5 in Flint, Michigan, but at the weigh-ins that took place a day before, there was an altercation that led to James Ali Bashir, Habazin's trainer, to being hospitalized and the fight altogether being scrapped. The card continued with Showtime only airing two fights instead of a planned tripleheader, meaning Shields and Habazin had to wait until 2020 to get their shot at 154-pound gold.
Below are the official weights for all three fights that will be televised on Showtime as well as the referees and judges for each bout:
WBO and WBC Female junior middleweight titles (154-pound limit):
- Claressa Shields: 153 ½ lbs.
- Ivana Habazin: 152 ½ lbs.
- Referee: Sparkle Lee
- Judges: Debra Barnes (New Jersey), Lynne Carter (Pennsylvania), Robin Taylor (New York)
Welterweight bout:
- Jaron Ennis: 145 ¾ lbs.
- Bakhtiyar Eyubov: 146 ¼ lbs.
- Referee: Earl Brown
- Judges: Jackie Atkins (New Jersey), Albert Bennett (New Jersey); James Kinney (New Jersey)
WBA and IBF Female super middleweight title unification (168-pound limit):
- Alicia Napoleon Espinosa (WBA champion): 164 lbs.
- Elin Cederroos (IBF champion): 166 ½ lbs.
- Referee: Benjy Esteves
- Judges: Mark Consentino (New Jersey), Lawrence Layton (New Jersey), John McKaie (New York)
