Shields to face US rival in first bout of new deal

Claressa Shields will defend her undisputed heavyweight crown against fellow American Franchon Crews-Dezurn in February 2026 in her first outing since signing an $8m (£6.1m) multi-fight deal.

Shields, 30, is one of women’s boxing’s biggest stars and rejected interest from Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) to recently sign with Wynn Records and Salita Promotions.

Her last fight was a win over Lani Daniels in July when she retained her WBO, WBA, IBF and WBC titles to remain unbeaten from her 17 professional outings.

Shields, who has won undisputed titles in three weight classes and is a two-time Olympic gold medallist, will fight 38-year-old American Crews-Dezurn on 22 February at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

They fought in 2016 in what was the professional debut for both of them and Shields beat Crews-Dezurn by unanimous decision.