With undisputed women’s middleweight world champion Claressa Shields back in training after a knee injury, her fight against Ivana Habazin for a vacant junior middleweight title has been rescheduled, Salita Promotions and Showtime announced on Tuesday.
Shields, bidding for world title in a third weight division as she moves down to 154 pounds, and Habazin will meet on Oct. 5 (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET) at the Dort Federal Event Center in Flint, Michigan, Shields’ first bout in her hometown.
The bout was originally scheduled for Aug. 17 in Flint, but Shields dislocated her right knee doing roadwork in late June, forcing the fight to be delayed.
By winning, Shields (9-0, 2 KOs), who unified two belts at super middleweight and unified all four at middleweight, can win a world title in a third division in fewer fights – 10 — than any fighter in history, male or female. Pound-for-pound king and unified lightweight world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko won a title in his third division in his 12th fight in May 2018.
“I’m more excited than ever. I’m 100 percent recovered, and I can’t wait to get back in the ring and fight in front of my hometown fans in Flint as undisputed champion of the world,” Shields said. “Having the opportunity to become world champion in a third weight division faster than any man or woman in boxing history will make Oct. 5 a night I will cherish forever. It’s another big step in history, and giant step forward in lifting women’s boxing on the road to equality.”
In her last fight on April 13, Shields, 24, the only American boxer, male or female, to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals, won a lopsided unanimous decision over Christina Hammer to unify the four major 160-pound women’s titles.
Habazin (20-3, 7 KOs), 29, a former welterweight world titlist from Croatia, who has won five fights in a row, will be fighting in the United States for the first time.
“It’s an honor and a dream to fight in the U.S. on national television,” Habazin said. “A lot of fighters never get this opportunity in their careers so I know I need to make the most of it. I’ve been training for this fight since June and the postponement has only given me more time to get ready. I intend to put my best effort forward to impress the fans and show that I am for real.
“I am not just coming to fight for a world title. I am fighting for my life and my career. I believe I am the best and now I got the chance to prove that, and there is no better opponent for that than Claressa Shields.”