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This fight is happening tonight. A lot of haters or people talking smack about it... but I will take this over the Maygregor circus any day. I have never heard of Adler ... 16-0 most of her fights in Germany. Shields has the resume, international experience and technique to stay on top until the talent pool grows. Until then I am eager to see if she will steamroll over this girl like all the rest.

So this is kind of big. I checked out the boxrec on the other fighter and she has more experience than most of the opponents new female pro's are fighting for their 2nd pro bout. Szilvia Szabados (15-8, 6 KOs) . This is what people see when non olympian low level pro's (Raquel Miller for example)- start calling out Shields after fighting 0-0 and bad record fighters and saying they will fight Shields when the price is right. Please. Earn it. Shobox is progress for women's boxing. http://boxingjunkie.usatoday.com/2017/02/07/two-time-olympic-champ-claressa-shields-to-make-history-as-headliner-on-showtime-card/

Because I am the women's boxing correspondent of WBF :-) lol. http://www.boxingscene.com/layla-mccarter-inks-pact-with-mayweather-promotions--113605 More big changes in women's boxing. Layla McCarter signed by TMT. Layla Mc Carter is no joke. It is nice to see some promoters we have heard of recognizing the talent of female boxers. There are a ton of her fights online. She displays legit technical ability. Here is one where she is fighting another good fighter Melissa Hernandez.

Another fighter that may not be so well known in mainstream boxing is Ireland's Katie Taylor. She won the gold in 2012 and was quite the phenom. In 2016 Katie took a controversial loss to Finland’s Mira Potkonen in the quarter finals. WBAN , Women's Boxing Archive Network (Yes this IS a thing) reports on her pro debut: http://www.womenboxing.com/NEWS2016-1/news102716taylor-latest-news.htm "(OCT 27) Latest Update: "Katie Taylor signed Pro forms for Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Sport organisation Thursday. She will debut in London's Wembley Arena November 26th and a second bout on Anthony Joshua's World title card in Manchester Arena on 10th December." Ireland's golden girl Katie Taylor, the first ever Olympic Gold medalist at 60 kg Lightweight, in London 2012, is in training in the United States and is said by 'usually reliable sources' close to the Bray woman, to likely make her Professional debut at the iconic Wembley Arena in London on 26 November. If that is confirmed it will be on a Matchroom Sport promotion of Eddie Hearn and with live TV coverage on Sky TV,which has long been one of her sponsors and for whom she has been a Sky Academy Ambassador for many years. Though neither Taylor nor her Manager, Mark Devlin have commented clearly that is the initial plan which indeed Mum, Bridget confirmed Tuesday to the Irish Times boxing correspondent Johnny Watterson,co-incidentally also co-author of the best selling 'Katie Taylor'- My Olympic Dream. No speculation as yet as to who she will meet in her first Pro bout but WBAN understands that no contract has as yet been signed with Matchroom which suggests that her Management team may also be in discussion with other promoters most likely in the United States. Though newspapers in Ireland reported that Taylor was back training at Bray BC with Dad, Peter we understand that these reports are not true and that Pete will not play any part in her Professional career.She has been training in the United States and also on holiday there for some weeks now though she did also return for a few days and trained with the Irish team in Dublin until a few days ago. Taylor's defection to the Pro ranks will be another massive blow to the IABA who have recently seen several male boxers leave for the Pro game whilst the news will also be met with dismay by the AIBA,for whom she was for so long their 'poster girl'. They simply have not done enough to promote women's boxing despite their frequent promises. Still only 3 weights for women in Rio 2016 and unlikely to be more than five in Tokyo 2016. Of course they will say that the Olympics are a matter for the IOC, but WBAN does not accept that for it was within their power to drop one or two male weights and transfer same to the long suffering women. The numerous controversial referee and judging decisions in Rio has also seriously angered boxers of many nations including Ireland trio Conlan, Barnes and Taylor though her anger was more in support of Conlan. More on this breaking news as and when we have it but one thing is for sure no 'amateur' is ever again likely to remain AIBA world number one for ten years as Taylor has reigned.next worry for AIBA - Could either or both of Nicola Adams and/or Clarissa Shields follow suit."

For my short boxing life I have heard nothing but idea that women's boxing short lived prime fizzled out in the 90's after Leila Ali was finished. In 2012 after the first women's boxing team went to the olympics some things began to change. There were no easy sponsorships for these athletes after the games, Even after Claressa Shields brought home gold the first time. Athletes like Heather Hardy, Melissa Hernandez, Shelly Vincent, and local CA fighters like Melissa Mc Morrow still are largely unknown. 2016 has been a little different. Finally some televised fights in the USA. And now Claressa is making her Pro Debut. We are also having an all female pro card in CA 12/3 CA Female Pro Card by the trainer/promoter that hosts Beautiful Brawlers every year (A massively expanding and well known amateur card that hosts girls from all over USA and several other countries).Beautiful Brawlers I thought this article on this topic sums it up well; The rise of women's boxing from Espn: "Women's boxing has long lived in the shadows of the sport. It's a cycle that begins and ends with television networks, a cycle that stems from a perception that the quality of female talent is thin. Yet, without the ability to sell women's fights on televised cards, the signing and developing of female fighters is rendered an unprofitable business for promoters. The opportunity for women to make a living fighting thus becomes virtually impossible ... and the cycle continues. "I'm a little embarrassed we haven't gotten to it sooner," said Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports, about the network's plans to put women's fights back on its air. "We aim to rectify that very quickly -- and not on a one-off basis but on a meaningful regular basis as well." While Showtime still hasn't promoted a fight since 2001, it plans to do so, and women's boxing will be televised Saturday, when Claressa Shields makes her professional debut on Saturday in a four-round super middleweight bout against Franchon Crews. It will air on ESPN3 on the "freeview" undercard of Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward's pay-per-view fight on HBO. Coupled with the previous strides made in 2016, it appears that a new era of women's boxing is dawning. Claressa Shields has dubbed this era as the "reintroduction to women's boxing." The era took a giant step forward on Aug. 21 when Shields became the first American fighter, male or female, to defend an Olympic gold medal. That same day, Heather Hardy and Shelly Vincent became the first women to be featured on a Premier Boxing Champions nationally televised undercard. Now, that era is primed to move ahead even further. Well aware of her role in what could be the surge needed to finally carry women's boxing from out of the shadows, Shields is preparing to make her professional debut on Saturday. Shields chose to begin her professional career rather than stay an amateur (and have the guarantee of eligibility to return to the Olympics in 2020) in part because of the potential the timing presented. At 21 years old, amid what already feels like a revolution in women's boxing, Shields is primed to take up the baton and carry the sport over the line it has come so close to crossing so many times. "I don't want to let this flame burn out that we have right now," Shields said. "You have to seize the moment and take advantage of it. "I'm not doing it for the money. I'm doing it for women's boxing." Sara Naomi Lewkowicz for ESPN Heather Hardy sits in a car and cries when she finds out the news that Claressa Shields had won her second gold medal. Shields has marinated on this concept of being the change for some time. It was a primary reason behind her decision and a seed that was planted before she won her second gold medal in Rio de Janeiro, when she had a conversation with Hardy about the two fighters' mutual hope for the future of their sport and the respect it deserves. The way Hardy understood it, Shields' turning pro would send a message: This is what women do. Women fight. Women box. "We weren't just thinking about each other making millions of dollars; we were thinking about the other women coming up behind us," Shields said. "This is a new era, and that's no disrespect to Christy Martin or Lucia Rijker or Laila [Ali]. But the women of this generation are just different. And me? I'm one-of-a-kind. You only get one of me every century." New York-born and bred, Hardy used to dream about becoming a Yankee. As a child she would even envision herself running out of the bullpen at Yankee Stadium. She watched every game. She knew every stat. But little girls didn't play baseball. More from espnW.com Shields turns pro for 'legacy' Shields dominates en route to gold-medal repeat "I remember feeling like I was sorry I liked it," she said. "I was sorry I was a girl." Later in life, Hardy adopted a new dream: becoming a professional boxer. But as she transitioned out of the amateurs, she was confronted with a harsh reality: Women don't make much money fighting. "A bunch of the girls who are pro [told me], 'Just know this isn't a life for you; this is a hobby because you'll never make any money off of it,'" Hardy said. "And 20 years later, I have that same feeling. I'm sorry I'm a girl." Nick Laham for ESPN Lou DiBella congratulates boxer Amanda Serrano after her win during a fight at Barclays Center in July. Hardy was the first woman to be signed to a long-term promotional contract with Lou DiBella's company, DiBella Entertainment. DiBella, one of New York's premier boxing promoters, has been one of the main actors at the forefront of the current revolution. In addition to Hardy, DiBella has signed deals with other prominent women fighters, including WBO featherweight champion Amanda Serrano and Hardy's last opponent, Vincent. While DiBella said he doesn't make money off their fights, the fact that he puts on shows in New York and throughout New England means Hardy and the other female fighters in his stable who are from the area sell enough tickets to cover a "good portion" of the costs of their bouts. DiBella, who admits he was once hardened to the idea of women in the ring when he was an HBO executive, has said that promoting his female fighters has become a cause for him. "I admire their dedication. I admire their spirit to want to bring about change," DiBella said. "I'd say a number of these women right now are not only out there as fighters; they're out there as trailblazers, as advocates. They're trying to change the status quo, to be agents of change, so that other women coming forward in the sport in the future have an easier road and an opportunity to make a living the same way men do." The difference between the money that male and female fighters can make fighting doesn't necessarily stem from a gap in fight purses -- in fact, according to DiBella, male and female fighters on the same card will generally make similar money for the same level of fight. The difference, then, is the fact that televised fights come with much bigger purses, and without opportunities to fight on televised cards, women simply don't have the option for bigger paydays. As DiBella put it, it's a wage "ceiling." "While male fighters are going after that $100,000 payday -- the $50,000, $150,000 or $1 million payday -- those paydays don't exist for women because television has been closed to them," DiBella said. Female fighters with untelevised bouts thus become more reliant on whatever percentage of ticket sales they get, which can often mean more aggressive promotion of their own fights, spreading the word and hanging up posters to try to sell tickets. Sara Naomi Lewkowicz for ESPN Heather Hardy and Shelly Vincent fought on national television in August. Hardy, a single mother, has considered taking MMA fights to help pay the bills, a proposition that recently became even more real when DiBella had to cancel the cards he had scheduled in New York through the end of the year because of a new provision that requires promoters in the state to secure $1 million of insurance per fighter in the event one suffers a traumatic brain injury. Unfortunately for Hardy, one of those events DiBella had to cancel was a show at Barclays Center on Dec. 16 that Hardy was supposed to fight on. "As much as I'd like to discourage her as a promoter from [moving to MMA], I'm not going to because she has to do what she has to do to maximize her revenue streams, to take advantage of her popularity and to try to make a living for her and her daughter," DiBella said. "I can't fault her for needing a supplemental income." Cooper Neill for ESPN Claressa Shields hasn't officially signed with any promoter ahead of her pro debut on Saturday. It's worth noting that while DiBella has signed some of the best female talent in the United States, his stable is missing the biggest star in Shields, who told ESPN in September before announcing her pro debut that the only company she wanted to sign with was Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions. However, Shields' agent said she has yet to make any decisions regarding a promoter as of this week. DiBella's investment could turn out to be a gamble that pays off if the status quo changes. The current pool of female talent is ripe for a chance at the big time, with fighters on the rise from coast to coast. Even across the pond, where women's boxing is already more prominently televised, 13-year Irish amateur and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Katie Taylor has too decided to turn professional. "The skill level and talent base is all there," Espinoza said. "It's just a matter of providing the opportunity." Espinoza wants Showtime to provide that opportunity. The five-year executive said that putting female fights back on the network's airwaves has been on its to-do list for some time, and that he hopes to get one on a card in the first quarter of 2017. Espinoza and DiBella have elevated conversations even further, with "pretty extensive" discussions about the prospect of an all-female card sometime next year. DiBella said that that type of card would ideally feature a Hardy-Vincent rematch, possibly even for a world title, if Hardy ends up fighting for one in March, as DiBella suggested she might. An all-women's card is certainly an ambitious goal, considering it likely would require the cooperation of various promoters, but Espinoza doesn't consider it insurmountable. "If we can be the unifying force to bring this aboard, we'd be happy to," he said Edward Diller/Icon Sportswire Stephen Espinoza was hired as executive vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports in November 2011. The concept of elevating women's presence in combat sports by making opportunities possible isn't new for Showtime. Ronda Rousey fought her final three Strikeforce fights before signing with Dana White and the UFC in 2012, and those bouts aired on Showtime. Other female mixed martial arts stars such as Gina Carano, Cris "Cyborg" Justino and Miesha Tate also came up through Strikeforce before making the same jump. "When you look at the business opportunity, which has been demonstrated in MMA, you can't really argue that the market isn't ready or the audience isn't ready," Espinoza said. The momentum that peaked in August, with Shields' Olympic win and Hardy and Vincent's televised bout, is palpable and has continued to pick up steam. For women in the sport, it's a fight for their livelihood and for equality in the ring, present and future. "If my daughter wanted to box, I would never be like, 'Yeah, you should work for that,'" Vincent said. "Before I would've said, 'No, you're never going to get anywhere. They're never going to accept you. You're never going to make any money.' "But now I would say there is hope, there is a light at the end of the tunnel." That light is primed to grow brighter again on Saturday, when Shields steps into the ring at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. "Just tell everybody this is the reintroduction to women's boxing," Shields said. "Thank me later."

"Claressa Shields, the two-time U.S. Olympic middleweight gold medalist and the No. 1 amateur women's boxer in the world, is going pro. Shields, a 21-year-old from Flint, Michigan, will make her professional debut on Nov. 19 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on the undercard of the HBO PPV fight between unified light heavyweight titleholder Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward, organizers announced on Tuesday. Shields will face an opponent to be determined in a four-round super middleweight bout. She won her gold medals at 165 pounds, but her pro debut is contracted at the professional super middleweight limit of 168 pounds." (http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/17886412/claressa-shields-21-going-pro-las-vegas-undercard) Who will they find to face her that is the question? Someone from out of the USA maybe? I am super excited about this fight but I am curious where they will find the talent pool to face her. I think that there are women out there coming up and gaining experience that could face her at a later time but until then she is going to go through everyone they put in front of her and she will have a secure place at the top. This will also bring more attention to women's boxing as Shields skill level surpasses many televised undercards regularly shown on USA tv. Props to Roc Nation for putting another female bout on the card.

By: Staff reports | August 21, 2016 10:02 pm This is the first female pro fight I have got to watch on tv in english since I started boxing. (Way back in 2013 lol). It was a great and technically sound fight but I would have given it to Vincent as her punches had massive effect. Not quite sure what the judges were seeing here. Women's boxing on PBC and Claressa Shields winning 2x gold is a huge day. These fights are worth watching. It's a step in the right direction towards getting women's boxing televised and eventually increasing the pay for technically sound female pro's. The action and the skill are there. (Shout out to the haters, as well as all the peeps watching females on UFC that have no clue that women's boxing exists.) http://boxingjunkie.usatoday.com/2016/08/21/heather-hardy-tops-shelly-vincent-televised-womens-bout/ "Sunday was a big day for women’s boxing in America. In Rio De Janeiro, Claressa Shields, from Flint, Mich., won her second consecutive Olympic gold medal to become the first U.S. fighter, male or female, to win multiple gold medals. Far away, at Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island, N.Y., Brooklyn’s Heather Hardy remained undefeated with a hard-fought majority decision against Shelly Vincent, handing Vincent her first loss. It was the first women’s bout televised on NBCSN. The action was non-stop from the start as Vincent charged in early, looking to close the distance between her and the taller Hardy. Hardy moved around the ring more, looking for the right distance to attack the Providence, R.I., native. “This is definitely a win for women’s boxing,” said Hardy (18-0, 4 KOs). “We kept up a great pace throughout and the fans were invested the whole time. “Every time she crowded me, she would get off more punches. I wanted to keep the fight on the outside and when I did that I had a lot of success.” Hardy’s movement allowed her to create more angles for her attack as she varied her offense with overhand rights, jabs and hooks. Vincent was consistent countering, with her left hand finding the most success. Hardy threw 752 punches while Vincent threw 678 over the 10 two-minute rounds. Hardy connected on 251 punches to 194 for Vincent. “I thought I won the fight pretty convincingly,” said Hardy. “She only really caught me a few times the whole fight. I knew I had to be tactical to win the fight. Judging by the belt around my waist, I would rate my performance a 10.” The judges ruled it for Hardy by scores of 99-91, 97-93 and 95-95. Vincent (18-1, 1 KO) believed she did enough to win the fight. “I definitely thought I won the fight,” said Vincent. “I was coming forward and I landed the bigger shots. Everyone saw the fight. 'I got head-butted all night long. I came here and everybody told me I’d get robbed. I’ll take the rematch but I’m not playing by these rules. I want her to come up to Providence.' "