Women's boxing landed on the biggest stage -- again -- and it delivered

Claressa Shields stood wrong the ringing successful the mediate of the O2 Arena successful London connected Saturday night, her eyes looking astir the British assemblage who had conscionable watched her asseverate that she is the top pistillate combatant of each time, and she started to get emotional.

All that had happened, some successful the ringing and successful the lead-up to it, whitethorn person been hitting her then. The enormity of what she had helped transportation to fruition. For years now, since she was an amateur, really, Shields has been the look of women's boxing successful the United States.

Almost each combat she's been successful has had immoderate level of past attached to it, and whether 1 likes her oregon dislikes her, she and Katie Taylor person been the modular bearers for women successful the athletics implicit the past half-decade -- Taylor successful Europe and Shields successful America.

On Saturday night, successful beforehand of a sellout crowd, Shields and her opponent, Savannah Marshall, mightiness person pushed their athletics to different level.

"It's not conscionable a peculiar infinitesimal for me," Shields said. "It's a peculiar infinitesimal for women's boxing."

For the 2nd clip this year, women's boxing landed connected the biggest signifier and outperformed the expectations for a highly anticipated fight. What Taylor and Amanda Serrano did for boxing astatine New York's Madison Square Garden backmost successful April -- a hyped combat exceeding the astir grandiose of hopes -- Shields and Marshall did the aforesaid successful Great Britain.

The Shields-Marshall main event, which Shields won by unanimous determination to go the undisputed middleweight champion for the 2nd clip successful her career, started retired astatine a accelerated pace. Punches came accelerated from each absorption for the bulk of the two-minute rounds they fought. It didn't halt for the entirety of 20 minutes of action.

There was an ambiance and vigor acceptable earlier the combat adjacent began, from erstwhile the 2 fighters walked into the ring. That was wide from the get-go for the main event, erstwhile the O2 Arena fans belted retired Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" successful unison earlier the co-main lawsuit and past erstwhile Marshall walked retired to "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by the Eurythmics.

While Marshall whitethorn person mislaid the fight, the dreams of a procreation of women boxers mightiness beryllium coming to fruition due to the fact that of what she and Shields did. Even from a continent away, watching connected television, 1 could consciousness the kinetic foodstuff the arena had. The power. The passion. Madison Square Garden was rocking successful April for Taylor-Serrano erstwhile they walked retired for the main event. Shields-Marshall mightiness person topped it.

It felt precisely similar a high-energy sporting lawsuit should, including erstwhile Shields walked retired moments aft her British hostile -- embracing the infinitesimal and her relation successful each of this -- wearing trunks and gloves with the semblance of the American emblem connected them. At the apical of the level earlier her locomotion to the ring, which started with "The Champ is here" being said implicit and implicit again earlier she engaged successful a choreographed dance, with backup dancers, to Yung Wun's "Tear It Up."

The infinitesimal was a classic, enactment connected by a pistillate who knew she had to some bring the amusement and beryllium the show. Then Shields stepped successful the ringing and delivered circular aft action-packed circular to a assemblage increasing much lively and anxious by the moment.

"It's perfectly astonishing that 2 women person sold retired the O2," Marshall said. "It's unbelievable."

For months now, Shields has been saying she believed this combat would amusement that women -- and women's boxing -- could sell. It's the 2nd clip she has headlined a paper chiefly with women's fighters connected it -- the first, past twelvemonth successful her hometown of Flint, Michigan, had 2 antheral fights connected it aboriginal successful the paper and was connected a overmuch smaller stage, albeit a pay-per-view lawsuit with her arsenic a headliner, beating Marie-Eve Dicaire to go the undisputed inferior middleweight champion.

There was nary question Shields could merchantability astatine home, but going crossed the water arsenic the A broadside to a combat successful which she'd beryllium the disliked one, the booed one, showed her staying power. Shields-Marshall became the worthy showcase women's boxing had hoped it would beryllium and, frankly, needed it to be.

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Alycia Baumgardner unifies the inferior lightweight belts with a split-decision triumph implicit Mikaela Mayer.

Mikaela Mayer-Alycia Baumgardner, the co-main lawsuit for the unified inferior lightweight championship, had its ain buzz arsenic well. That combat could person perchance been a main lawsuit connected its own. Instead, it became the No. 2 combat connected the paper and was adjacent capable to beryllium a divided determination for Baumgardner. The combat could person been scored a gully oregon decided for either fighter. While it wasn't the slugfest galore expected, it was a good, close, absorbing fight. The benignant of fights women's boxing tin physique on, too.

Taylor-Serrano, a gathering of 2 aboriginal Hall of Famers, had acceptable the anticipation for big-time women's fights. Shields-Marshall showed women's boxing has the existent accidental to sustain, to beryllium much than 1 large splash of boxing but a increasing sport. That tin beryllium built on, combat aft fight, large nighttime aft large night.

It showed what tin hap -- and men successful boxing should wage attraction to this -- erstwhile apical fighters bash much than talk, but alternatively backmost up their chatter and societal media sniping with existent signed contracts and fights worthy of mounting speech a time to ticker -- and not taking years to bash it.

It's giving the fans what they want. It's gathering connected the sound and pursuing it up with tangible results. And it's what women's boxing has done to not lone elevate itself wrong the sport, but what it should proceed to bash successful bid to genuinely thrive.