This routine title defence might have hardly represented a proper test of Claressa Shields’ proclamations to being the greatest female boxer in history, but a dominant points victory over Ema Kozin has cleared the path for a unification that could yet validate those claims.
It was of little coincidence that Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, who currently holds three of the middleweight belts, found herself boxing on an undercard in Cardiff on Saturday night. The Michigan native is now set to face Hartlepool’s Savannah Marshall later this year, provided the WBO champion can rid of her own mandatory challenger next month, and the pair gave a taste of what is to come as they confronted each other heatedly at ringside once the celebrations subsided.
