It’s typical of boxing that two of America’s biggest stars on the women’s side must go overseas for the biggest fights of their careers, but in the biggest year in women’s boxing history, former Olympians Claressa Shields and Mikaela Mayer I don’t care
And why would they? Fighting Savannah Marshall and Alycia Baumgardner, respectively, at London’s O2 Arena, Shields and Mayer are in a place that appreciates the sweetest of science, giving it a showcase it rarely had until 2022, when Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano put the very high bar. with his April SuperFight at Madison Square Garden.
At Taylor-Serrano, the Garden was louder than ever since Félix Trinidad fought there, and the fighters delivered an epic battle that showed the world what women can do when given the platform and the chance to succeed.
Frankly, that development took too long.
In 1998, we’ll call it my formative years in the sport, I made the two-hour drive to Atlantic City to cover a couple of all-female undercards, which have been largely forgotten, especially with the attention given to the undercard. of Saturday. , which also exclusively features women’s boxing.
On those cards were some of the best wrestlers of that era: Kathy Collins, Jane Couch, the Webber sisters, Eva Young, Leona Brown, Deirdre Gogarty, Marischa Sjauw, Fredia Gibbs, Leah Mellinger, Anissa Zamarron, and one of my best wrestlers ever. all the times. favorites, Jill “The Zion Lion” Matthews.
Ask a boxing fan today about that group, even a fan who calls himself a fan of women’s boxing, and I guess they may know Collins, who fought Christy Martin on the Trinidad-William Joppy undercard at MSG in 2001; Couch, who opened the door for women’s boxing in England; and Gogarty, who also faced Martin in the match that put “The Coal Miner’s Daughter” on the map in 1996. The rest? Probably not. And since YouTube didn’t help track down footage of some of those fighters, including Matthews, it’s almost forgotten what it took for women to now headline some of the world’s most iconic venues.
That’s unfortunate, and a key thing to point out ahead of a couple of fights that will shape how the sport looks for years to come. That’s how big this weekend’s card is for the sport.
At 130 pounds, Mayer and Baumgardner square off for three of the division’s four belts, and while Hyun Mi Choi may hold the fourth title in the junior lightweight class, there isn’t a serious fan of the sport who would consider anyone other than To the winner. of Saturday’s fight as the true champion, especially with Choi dodging fights with his two fellow champions. So just on paper, this is an important fight. Stylistically, it also marks all boxers, with Mayer, the boxer and puncher, taking on the knockout artist in Baumgardner. But when you add in the stakes and both aren’t afraid to engage in a trash talk war, this could be special, especially if neither fighter is willing to let this marinate past its sell by date.
“I appreciate everything, but now is the time because it’s been brewing,” Baumgardner told me shortly after the fight was signed. “I have been wanting to fight Mikaela since the amateur days. Even when she turned pro, I think, this is perfect. I’ve been wanting to fight her. And now that she’s a world champion and I’m a world champion, it enhances the story, it makes the sport of boxing have more eyes on it to say, ‘Hey, these are two great world champions fighting to unify the division. , and you will definitely see something different that you have never seen before.’”
“This is what I always wanted for women’s boxing,” Mayer said. “I want the next generation, once they get to this level, to have a lot of money at stake against the top girls. And it is happening. As much as I dislike it, this is what I want for women’s boxing, so I’m glad they’re getting paid, but money talks. It’s the biggest payday of her life and the biggest payday she’ll probably get after I won her.”
Then there is “T-Rex”.
Shields proclaimed herself the “GWOAT” long before she made the trek to face the only person to beat her in a boxing ring in Marshall, and while there have been doubts about that claim, the Flint, Michigan, native you’re on your way to producing a resume that’s impossible to argue with.
Two Olympic gold medals. Three division titles as a professional, two of them undisputed (and simultaneous) and the third seeing the unification of two belts, and he has barely lost a round or two along the way. In fact, his dominance has been such that people have questioned his claims of being the best at doing it. And it’s true, the level of competition in the higher weight classes (154-168 pounds) isn’t as high as it is in the lower divisions, but Shields has fought the best in each one and made the good fighters look like they’re not. you don’t belong
But Marshall has always been in the conversation, with a decision loss to the Brit in 2012 a sticking point Shields has always wanted to clear up, and there’s no better way to do that than in a big fight with Marshall for the WBO title. at 160 lbs. . Sure, belts are nice, but it always seemed like Shields was chasing those trinkets for his trophy case and not the actual fighter he was flipping hands with for ten rounds. On Saturday, he probably couldn’t care less about that WBO belt. It’s Marshall he wants. Mix in the reality that many think the greatest fighter with knockout power, Marshall, is primed for victory and, well, the 27-year-old Shields is more than a little motivated.
“To everyone who doubts me, just make sure you apologize after the fight,” he said. “Say, ‘We were wrong.’ You don’t have to say, ‘You are the GWOAT.’ Just say, ‘We screwed up, you’re the best, and we respect you.’ And that you respect my hard work and accomplishments because (Marshall) was a fluke. That he beat me in 2012 before the Olympics was the fluke of his career. That was his greatest achievement. After that, downhill. It was no accident that I won the 2012 Olympics because I won them again, and I won the world championships three times after that. So, she was the fluke, and it’s still a fluke because she’s knocked out a bunch of bums.”
Fighting words that should have the boxing world eagerly awaiting the opening bell of both bouts, especially those hoping to one day follow in the footsteps of the four headliners. In 1998, this was a dream, a far-fetched one, but today there is hope that these are not one-time deals, but something where women get the airtime, the money and the opportunities. of their male counterparts.
They’ve worked for it, they’ve earned it, and you can’t tell me that the quartet of Shields, Marshall, Mayer and Baumgardner are not stars, each in their own way. On Saturday they get their chance, but for them it’s not necessarily about promoting their sport. It’s about winning.
And everyone loves a winner.
