SHIELDS TO DEFEND WBC/IBF WORLD FEMALE SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLES ON JAN. 12

Claressa Shields (atop) defends her two titles against unbeaten former world champion Tori Nelson on Jan. 12.

By LITO DELOS REYES

AMERICAN Claressa “T-Rex” Shields will be defending both her WBC World and IBF World Female Super Middleweight titles against veteran and former world champion Tori Nelson on January 12 at the Turning Stone Resorts and Casino in Verona, New York.
It is promoted by Ditriv Salita of Salita Promotions.
The 22-year old Shields (4W-0L, 2 KOs) won both the vacant IBF world female super middleweight crown and WBC World title by stopping Nikki Adler via a 5th round technical knockout last August 4 at the MGM Grand Detroit.
Shields first won the vacant WBC Silver female super middleweight title by a unanimous decision against Sydney LeBlanc last June 16 at the Masonic Temple in Detroit.
In her only second pro fight, Shields already captured the vacant NABF female middleweight title by a 4th round technical knockout win over Szilvia Szabados (15W-8L-0D) last March 10 at the MGM Grand Detroit.
Nelson (17W-0L-3D, 2 KOs), on the other hand, is also still unbeaten after 20 bouts.
The 41-year old Nelson captured both the vacant Universal Boxing Federation (UBF) World and the Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) World Female super middleweight titles by a unanimous decision against Alicia Napoleon (7W-0L) last year at the ABC Sports Complex in Springfield.
Nelson is also a former champion in the UBF welterweight, super welterweight and middleweight divisions. She is also a former WIBA world welterweight title holder.
In 2011, Nelson scored a split decision over Lorissa Rivas to cop the vacant WBC World Female middleweight title in Spain.
Nelson twice fought against WBA World female middleweight champion Teresa Perozzi which both ended up in separate draws.
In their initial encounter, Perozzi retained her crown and nobody won the vacant WBC World Female middleweight crown after a majority draw in 2012. Their rematch for the vacant WBC World female middleweight title only in 2013 was also settled to a split draw.
Nelson won her previous outing by stopping Latashia Burton in the 2nd round last November 4 in Ashburn.