Shields to fight Gabriels for vacant middleweight title
DETROIT (AP) Two-time Olympic boxing champion Claressa Shields is looking to take over another division.
The 23-year-old super middleweight champion is scheduled to take on Hanna Gabriels for vacant middleweight title on June 22 at Masonic Temple in Detroit.
Shields, who is from Flint, Michigan, is training with John David Jackson for the first time. She has won all five of her fights, including two by knockouts.
The 35-year-old Gabriels, who is from Costa Rica, is a super welterweight champion. She is 18-1 with 11 knockouts.
Shields is the first American, male or female, to win a boxing gold medal since Andre Ward at the 2004 Athens Olympics. The only other U.S. boxer to win two Olympic gold medals is Oliver Kirk, who won titles at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis.