Claressa Shields vs Kaye Scott Preview: Shields Challenges For Her Old Middleweight Crowns

Claressa Shields is used to walking into fights as the champion everyone wants to knock off. On Saturday night in Atlanta, the roles are reversed.

The unbeaten Shields (18-0-0) drops back to middleweight to challenge Kaye Scott (5-1-1), the defending WBA and WBC middleweight champion. Scott may have only seven professional fights on her record, but she’s the one bringing the belts into the ring.

It’s a good angle for a card that has plenty going on underneath the main event as well. Caroline Veyre faces unbeaten Bernice Ferreira at super featherweight, Troy Isley meets Joseph Hicks at middleweight and several unbeaten prospects are being given increasingly serious tests.

The action takes place at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, with the card broadcast live on DAZN.

Claressa Shields vs Kaye Scott

Claressa Shields enters at 18-0-0 and returns to middleweight to challenge Kaye Scott, who brings a 5-1-1 record and the WBA and WBC titles into the ring.

It’s an unusual position for Shields. After winning titles across multiple divisions and spending her recent fights at heavyweight, she now heads back to 160lb as the challenger rather than the defending champion.

Scott won the vacant WBA and WBC belts against Olivia Curry in their December rematch, having previously fought Curry to a draw. Now comes a very different sort of test for her first defence: Shields returning to a division she previously ruled.

That makes Scott’s 5-1-1 record a little deceptive at first glance. She doesn’t have anything close to Shields’ professional experience, but she is the reigning champion and has already had to come through adversity in a relatively short professional career.

Shields, meanwhile, is going in the opposite direction to the one we’ve become accustomed to seeing. We’ve watched her move through the weights and eventually reach heavyweight; now she has come back down looking to take possession of two of the middleweight belts once again.

For me, the weight drop is the most interesting part of the fight. Shields will understandably attract most of the attention and carries that perfect 18-0-0 record into Atlanta, but Scott isn’t simply turning up to challenge the star. She’s defending her own territory. Shields has to come down to 160lb and take those belts from her.

Caroline Veyre vs Bernice Ferreira

There is another interesting women’s fight on the card as Caroline Veyre (11-1-0) meets unbeaten Bernice Ferreira (10-0-0) at super featherweight.

Veyre is the WBC champion while Ferreira brings her unbeaten record and IBO title into Atlanta, giving this one considerably more importance than its original position on the BoxRec listing might suggest.

Ferreira’s 10-0-0 record is obviously going to attract attention, but Veyre has already experienced defeat and rebuilt. There is something to be said for that. Ferreira now gets the opportunity to show just how far her unbeaten run can take her against a fellow champion.

Troy Isley vs Joseph Hicks

Troy Isley puts his 16-0-0 record on the line against Joseph Hicks (12-1-0) in another fight worth watching closely.

Isley has kept the unbeaten record intact so far, but Hicks isn’t coming in with the sort of record you can simply dismiss. One defeat in 13 professional fights makes this a useful middleweight matchup and the winner should come out of it with a stronger argument for bigger opportunities.

This might actually be my pick of the undercard. Two fighters with good records, plenty at stake and neither side gaining much from taking a backward step.

Other Title Fights

Puerto Rico’s unbeaten Ashleyann Lozada (4-0-0) faces the far more experienced Paulette Cuesta (19-5-1) at super bantamweight. Lozada has only four professional fights behind her, while Cuesta has already been through 25, so this represents an interesting experience gap.

There is also a light-heavyweight contest between Danielle Perkins (6-1-0) and Olivia Curry (7-3-2). Curry comes into this one having previously shared the ring twice with Scott, including their fight for the WBA and WBC middleweight titles.

Undercard

Unbeaten light heavyweight Atif Oberlton (16-0-0) faces experienced Colombian Roamer Alexis Angulo (29-4-0). Oberlton has the perfect record, while Angulo brings considerably more professional rounds and fights into the matchup.

At super middleweight, Hakim Lopez (16-1-0) meets unbeaten Da’Velle Smith (14-0-0). Smith’s zero is properly on the line against an opponent with 17 professional fights behind him.

Unbeaten featherweight Shannel Butler (8-0-0) takes on Marianela Soledad Ramirez (14-11-2), with Ramirez bringing considerably more professional experience into the contest.

Someone definitely loses an unbeaten record at super welterweight when Jaquan McElroy (7-0-0) faces Alexander Thiel (5-0-0). Those are always worth keeping an eye on, particularly this early in two fighters’ careers.

Casey Dixon (7-0-0) continues his unbeaten start against Michael Nelson (4-3-1) at super middleweight.

At super welterweight, Daniel Mercado (1-0-0) has his second professional outing against Rahmel McKinley (1-4-0).

Shields will be the name selling the night, but Scott is the champion and that distinction makes the main event much more interesting than simply another defence of Shields’ unbeaten record. Add Veyre-Ferreira and Isley-Hicks and there’s enough underneath it to make this a card worth watching from well before the main-event ring walks.

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