Claressa Shields announced today that she’ll defend her heavyweight titles on July 26th against IBF light heavyweight champ Lani Daniels in Detroit, Michigan.
Shields (16-0, 3 KO) claimed “undisputed” heavyweight glory by stopping Danielle Perkins in February, a feat offset by the fact that the IBF belt had been vacant for over a year and the WBO belt straight-up didn’t exist beforehand. She subsequently tested positive for marijuana, but found herself cleared after the Michigan commission admitted to a “procedural error” in the collection process.
Not that a legitimate test failure would have reflected poorly on her. Stupid that it’s still on the banned substance list at all.
New Zealand’s Daniels (11-2-2, 1 KO) started her career 4-2-2 before a 7-0 run saw her claim titles at both heavyweight and light heavyweight. Thing is, neither of those titles existed before Daniels won them, so she gets an asterisk as well.
Still, she’s about as credible an opponent as Shields can get at this point outside of a Savannah Marshall rematch or Shadasia Green fight. Just not a lot of active female fighters both that big and that good.
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