Claressa Shields is the champion. Now it can finally be paid as one.
Claressa Shields looked into the camera lens of her phone to make eye contact, then raised her index finger.
As the undisputed female middleweight champion, she was just asked in an interview on a video conference how long it would take her to equalize with similarly empowered male boxers.
“In one year,” she said.
To reach this milestone, Emo Kozin, an undefeated competitor from Slovenia, will have to be defeated in Cardiff, Wales, on Saturday night, as part of a payable card. Shields ’duel is the first in a duel with British television station Sky Sports, which includes just over a million dollars guaranteed salary and is set to culminate in a showdown with Savannah Marshall, an English boxer who was the only person to beat Shields. amateur.
“I’m going to make what these guys do,” said Shields, a 26-year-old from Flint, Mich. “It will come very, very soon. Faster than we think. This is a great time.”
To be clear, “these guys” don’t refer to Saúl Álvarez, the super middleweight champion with the nickname Canelo, who is considered the best boxer in the world. He is arguably the highest paid boxer on the planet, earning a $ 40 million guarantee for his November victory over Caleb Plant.
But for the Shields team, the realistic goal is to approximate or equalize the salaries of male fighters who are successful but not necessarily well known to ordinary sports fans. Last year, Jermell Charlo, the men’s champion in the super welterweight category, earned a reported $ 3 million to defend the title against Brian Castaño, with a guaranteed million dollars of that money. Victories over 23-year-old Kozin and 30-year-old Marshall could potentially place Shields in that pay grade.
“Claressa is the perfect athlete at the right time to advance in women’s boxing to the next level,” said Dmitriy Salita, Shields promoter. “Claressa will be rewarded in proportion to the success of her events.”
For Shields and her management team, this time refers to her growth from a teenager who won gold at the 2012 Olympics, to a champion who won the 2016 Games again, to an undefeated pro with world titles in two weight categories.
Viewed through the prism of victories, defeats and championships, Shields ’career has been marked by steady, linear progress that should, Salita said, bring the fighter higher salaries, regardless of gender.
But Shields, who as a pro scored 11-0 with two knockouts, did not have an ongoing partnership that often turns outstanding boxers into stars. Most of Shields’ matches have appeared on Showtime – in November 2016 she became a professional on the network, and two of her last three matches were also broadcast there. She also competed on HBO and the DAZN sports streaming service.
Shields ’last duel, a victory by unanimous decision over Marie-Eve Dicaire of Canada in March 2021, was the title of an independent pay-per-view card put together by Salita’s promotional company.
Since then, Shields has competed in mixed martial arts, scoring 1-1 in two fights with the Professional Fighters League and helping to produce a feature film about her life. Shields said a turn in MMA has improved her boxing as it has increased her overall strength, and that her side projects will increase her profile.
“It all brings fans back to my boxing,” she said.
Shields ’two-match contract with Sky Sports is evolving as boxers earn an increasing share of the sport’s attention and money.
Last week, Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor announced they would meet on April 30 at the main event in Madison Square Garden, bringing the two women to the title of a battle card in the main arena of the Garden for the first time. The event’s promoter, Matchroom Boxing chairman Eddie Hearn, said each fighter is guaranteed at least a million dollars – and has a simple explanation for the shift in the pay scale for elite boxers.
“It’s a demand,” Hearn said. “This is the only reason why increased money comes into combat or sports. Sponsors want to get involved in women’s sports. They want to be involved in events that will catch the eye. “
Hearn said the fight between Serrano and Taylor will be the biggest women’s boxing bout in history; Salita said the honor will go to Shields and Marshall whenever they meet. In 2012, Marshall and Shields fought as amateurs, with Marshall winning 14-8 on the computerized scoring system of amateur matches. Shields has not lost a boxing match since.
Public demand for a rematch depends in part on Marshall’s victory in the next fight, scheduled for March 12 against Belgium’s Femke Hermans.
“Claressa is in my eyes. It’s at a touching distance, ” Marshall told reporters earlier this week.
The fight depends on Shields, who will send Kozina, who has recorded 11 knockouts in 21 professional victories. Like Marshall, Kozin is a Southerner who believes he can remove Shields from the throne.
“I don’t feel any pressure because of who he is,” Kozin said told reporters in January. “I see this as a great opportunity and not a kind of burden.”
Shields, however, said the prospect of a high-profile showdown with big money with Marshall would not deter her from fighting Kozin.
“I’m focusing on who’s in front of me,” Shields said. “Marshall and her team are focusing on me.”