Claressa Shields next fight: Champ vacating junior middleweight titles to challenge for undisputed middleweight title

Claressa Shields returns to the ring in January as she looks to reclaim her title as the pound-for-pound queen of boxing. Shields took some time off to fight in the MMA octagon, but returns to face Ema Kozin on January 29th in a bid to become the undisputed middleweight champion.

Shields has spent time at both junior middleweight and middleweight, claiming The Ring title in both weight classes. She was the undisputed junior middleweight champ following her March win over Marie-Eve Dicaire, but she will be vacating some of her titles and moving exclusively to the middleweight division for the time being.

Shields already vacated the WBA and WBC junior middleweight titles, and is now also vacating the IBF title. The WBO will continue to list Shields as its champion.

She now heads back to the middleweight division where she holds the WBA, WBC, IBF, and The Ring titles. Barring an upset, Shields will likely advance from this fight against Kozin to face fellow professional unbeaten middleweight Savannah Marshall for the WBO title. Marshall is the only person to beat Shields, winning an amateur points decision at the 2012 Women’s World Championships in Qinhuangdao, China.