Claressa Shields to face Christina Hammer for women’s middleweight unified boxing title

Former two-time Olympic boxing champion Claressa Shields, in her seventh pro fight, will seek to become the unified women’s middleweight world champion Nov. 17 when she meets fellow two-belt champion Christina Hammer in Atlantic City, N.J.

Shields, who recently vacated her claim as WBC super-middleweight champion, is expecting her most difficult test yet against Hammer (23-0, 10 knockouts).

Showtime will televise the bout.

The winner of Shields vs. Hammer will join Terence Crawford, Jermain Taylor, Bernard Hopkins, Oleksandr Usyk and women’s welterweight Cecilia Braekhus as the only fighters to have unified all four recognized titles in any weight class.

“I’ve worked hard my whole life to overcome every obstacle, represent my country and win two Olympic gold medals, and win world championships in two weight divisions as a pro,” Shields said. “I want to be part of the biggest fight in women’s boxing history, I want to be undisputed world middleweight champion, I want women’s boxing to reach new heights, and the only thing standing between me and the achievement of all those goals is Christina Hammer. I will defeat Hammer on Nov. 17, and I will do it in a way that will leave no doubt who is the best in the world.”