DETROIT — As Claressa Shields stood behind a clear podium to discuss her upcoming undisputed heavyweight title defense Sunday at Little Caesars Arena, she surprisingly exchanged very little trash talk with her opponent.
Instead, Shields, dressed in a stylish pink fur coat, offered high praise for Franchon Crews-Dezurn, who was seated at a nearby table to Shields’ left.
“With this fight being at heavyweight, it brings more notoriety to her name, to my name, to the event,” Shields, ESPN’s No. 1-ranked pound-for-pound women’s boxer, said during Thursday’s news conference. “We will be etched in history together throughout our entire careers from the amateurs to our pro debuts to our heavyweight fight coming up.”
Shields (17-0, 3 KOs) and Crews-Dezurn (10-2, 2 KOs) climbed the ranks together as longtime amateur rivals before they faced off in their 2016 pro debuts, with Shields earning a four-round decision victory.
Sunday’s bout will mark the second defense of Shields’ undisputed heavyweight crown, which she won in February 2025 in a unanimous decision over Danielle Perkins. It will also mark the first of Shields’ multifight partnership with Salita Promotions and Wynn Records that she signed in November after toying with the idea of free agency. The deal, worth $8 million, is the largest for a female boxer.
After her 2016 loss to Shields, Crews-Dezurn won her next nine fights and went on to become the undisputed super middleweight champion. After dropping the crown in 2023, the Virginia native won her next two fights, beating Shadasia Green in 2023 for the WBA interim and WBC super middleweight titles and making a successful title defense against Citlalli Ortiz in 2025.
Shields and Crews-Dezurn promised to deliver an action-packed match to fans.
“This is a long time in the making,” Crews-Dezurn said. “I’ve always told Claressa our journeys was going to be intertwined as it is, and it’s beautiful because when we first met, women’s boxing wasn’t even in the Olympics, so we had the opportunity to step forward in that manner, and to see both of our faces on beautiful artwork around the arena, on the internet, it means the world to me.
“I’m not a selfish person. I’m very selfless, so this is definitely my dream. Everything I’m doing is for my dream. February 22nd when I’m victorious, it’s definitely something that I set out to do.”
Shields, a native of Flint, Michigan, admitted that Crews-Dezurn was the first woman she researched as a teenager while preparing for her first Olympics in 2012, when at age 17 she became the first American woman to earn a gold medal for women’s boxing. She also made history in 2016 when she captured a second gold medal at the Rio Olympics at 21.
After using Crews-Dezurn as a driving force for many years, Shields is preparing to continue her unbeaten streak.
“She was my motivation back then,” Shields said. “I found film on her on YouTube. I watched her. And I knew from back then she hit hard. That’s what I noticed when I was 13. I said, ‘That lady hits hard.'”
