Claressa Shields will return to the middleweight division to face unified WBC and WBA ******* leholder Kaye Scott.
The fight will stream live on DAZN on Saturday, August 15, from State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
The 31-year-old Shields (18-0, 3 KO) last fought as a middleweight in 2023, when she shut out Maricela Cornejo over 10 rounds. Since then, she's fought as a "heavyweight," which has been functionally the same as fighting as a light heavyweight in women's boxing, as Shields has never weighed in over a 175 lb limit. Her 2024 win over Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse was for both a heavyweight and light heavyweight ******* le, even.
Shields has run into the problem of running out of interesting opposition, which comes from the fact that she is simply drastically better than the talent around her at the weights she can make. Her world ******* le journey as a professional has seen her go from 168 to 160 to 154, then back to 160, then 175, and now back down to 160 as she looks to find suitable opponents from a field that has run thin, at least in terms of people she hasn't already beaten once or twice.
Scott is a 42-year-old Australian with a pro record of 5-1-1 (0 KO). She lost her first bid for a world ******* le in late 2024, when Desley Robinson beat her to win the vacant IBF middleweight ******* le. She then fought Olivia Curry in September 2025 for the vacant WBC and WBA ******* les, and that fight went to a draw.
The fight will stream live on DAZN on Saturday, August 15, from State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
The 31-year-old Shields (18-0, 3 KO) last fought as a middleweight in 2023, when she shut out Maricela Cornejo over 10 rounds. Since then, she's fought as a "heavyweight," which has been functionally the same as fighting as a light heavyweight in women's boxing, as Shields has never weighed in over a 175 lb limit. Her 2024 win over Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse was for both a heavyweight and light heavyweight ******* le, even.
Shields has run into the problem of running out of interesting opposition, which comes from the fact that she is simply drastically better than the talent around her at the weights she can make. Her world ******* le journey as a professional has seen her go from 168 to 160 to 154, then back to 160, then 175, and now back down to 160 as she looks to find suitable opponents from a field that has run thin, at least in terms of people she hasn't already beaten once or twice.
Scott is a 42-year-old Australian with a pro record of 5-1-1 (0 KO). She lost her first bid for a world ******* le in late 2024, when Desley Robinson beat her to win the vacant IBF middleweight ******* le. She then fought Olivia Curry in September 2025 for the vacant WBC and WBA ******* les, and that fight went to a draw.
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