Boxing

Shields to defend the undisputed heavyweight crown against Crews-Dezurn

Published

11 months ago

December 9, 2025

Claressa Shields will put her undisputed heavyweight title on the line against a familiar opponent when she faces Franchon Crews-Dezurn in her backyard at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on February 22. The fight will be broadcast live on DAZN.

Shields (17-0, 3 KO), the No. 1 ranked women’s boxer pound-for-pound by ESPN, defeated Crews-Dezurn in her professional debut in 2016. Crews-Dezurn (10-2, 2 KO) also made her professional debut. They will meet again almost a decade later, and the stakes will be much higher as the 30-year-old Shields defends her undisputed heavyweight title for the second time.

“I had just won two Olympic gold medals in 2016, up-to-date to amateur competition, and finding an opponent was arduous, Franchón stepped in,” Shields said in a statement. “I have grown a lot since that first victory, winning nineteen world titles, an ESPY Award and countless other achievements, but me and Franchón have unfinished business that we need to resolve. She keeps repeating it as if she could beat me for the world championship. Our professional debut lasted four rounds, and this fight will start in round five.”

After the defeat by Shields, Crews-Dezurn went undefeated for nine consecutive fights, thus becoming the undisputed super middleweight champion. She lost the undisputed title when she faced Shields’ rival Savannah Marshall and lost by majority decision in 2023. The Virginia native won her next two fights, defeating Shadasia Green in 2023, winning the WBA interim and WBC super middleweight titles, and successfully defended the title against Citlalli Ortiz in 2025.

Crews-Dezurn, 38, wants to become the first fighter to put a dent in the self-proclaimed “GWOAT”‘s record.

“I have waited and worked for this moment for a long time and we are finally reunited,” Crews-Dezurn said in a statement. “This time as a recognized champion with a great legacy. I dare to be even greater by gaining weight and strutting into hell so that I can create my heaven. I am an all-world woman who is good in any hood and I can’t wait to give Detroit and the world a great fight.”

This will be Shields’ first fight since signing an $8 million multi-fight deal with Salita Promotions and Wynn Records.

Boxing

Robert Garcia Analyzes Tim Tszyus Odds Against Erislandy Lara | Boxing News

Published

2 hours ago

November 7, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

"Robert Garcia Analyzes Tim Tszyu's Odds Against Erislandy Lara | Boxing News"

Tim Tszyu seeks to become Australia’s third multi-divisional boxing world champion when he competes for Erislandy Lara’s WBA middleweight title next month, and ahead of the action, trainer Robert Garcia has offered his thoughts on the fight.

Tszyu lost his WBO super-welterweight title in a defeat to Sebastian Fundora back in 2024 and twice failed to reclaim 154lb honours, both against Bakhram Murtazaliev and in a rematch with Fundora.

Since then, the Aussie has stepped up to middleweight and scored a career-best win over Errol Spence Jr earlier this yearand now, the 32-year-old could join lead trainer Jeff Fenech and Liam Paro as his nation’s third two-weight world champion, if he can trump 43-year-old.

Speaking with ProBox TVRobert Garcia, who trains a potential future Tszyu opponent in Vergil Ortiz, admitted that he is leaning towards the home fighter, but noted that Lara will not be phased by competing in the challenger’s backyard.

“We can probably lean towards Tim Tsyzu because he is fighting at home, in front of his hometown, but Lara is not the fighter that brings in a lot of fans following him.

“He doesn’t have a following, he is not one that is going to sell out arenas, so even if it is in the United States, it is likely that most of the people are going to be [there] for Tim Tszyu because Australians do travel and Tim Tszyu has a lot of fans.

“For Lara, going to Australia is like going to Las Vegas or going to New York because he never has that following anyways. Anywhere he goes, he is going to be against the crowd. So, I think for him it is going to be one of those performances where it doesn’t make a difference if he is going to Tim Tsyzu’s hometown.”

Tszyu-Lara takes place at the Cbus Super Stadium in Queensland, Australia on Sunday 13 December.

Boxing

Malik Scott Predicts Knockout Victory for Jai Opetaia in Upcoming Fight

Published

2 hours ago

November 7, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

"Malik Scott Predicts Knockout Victory for Jai Opetaia in Upcoming Fight"

Deontay Wilder’s former head coach Malik Scott has delivered a knockout prediction for the American’s upcoming showdown with Jai Opetaia.

The pair will square off at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on December 11, with Opetaia making his heavyweight debut on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua.

Despite him being the naturally smaller man, many are favouring the Australian – a former two-time world cruiserweight champion – to defeat his 10-years-older opponent.

It is, after all, generally accepted that Wilder has declined significantly since his trilogy bout with Furywho survived two knockdowns and scored an 11th-round knockout in their 2021 encounter.

Back then, Wilder had just joined forces with Scott, his former opponent, and the pair maintained their fighter-trainer relationship through subsequent defeats against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang.

With Wilder now operating under different coaches, though, Scott has shared a balanced view of the Opetaia fight with Seconds Out.

“The fight’s got dynamite written all over it. Jai Opetaia is very dangerous, but he’s a smaller man that’s been hurt by smaller men than Deontay, slower men than Deontay.

“I’ve never seen Opetaia get hit by nobody like Deontay; I’ve seen Deontay get hit by bigger punchers than Opetaia. [But] one thing we can expect in this fight is a knockout.

“The name of the fight is ‘bad intentions’ – at least that’s what I’m calling it, because that’s what they share in common. What they share in common is mentality – they both are trying to hurt you.”

While he stopped short of predicting a winner, it is perhaps telling that Scott, despite his relationship with Wilder, has not explicitly favoured him to win by knockout.