Claressa Shields Defeats Ema Kozin by Decision, Retains Middleweight Titles

Huw Fairclough/Getty Images

Claressa Shields (12-0, 2 KOs) made a successful return to boxing Saturday after a brief foray into mixed martial arts, defeating Ema Kozin (21-1-1, 11 KOs) by unanimous decision to retain the WBA, WBC and IBF world middleweight titles at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales.

The judges scored the bout 100-90, 100-90, 100-90, per the pay-per-view broadcast.

Shields, 26, looked as comfortable as ever against Kozin, firing away with brutal combinations from start to finish. Her last boxing match was in March 2021, when she beat Marie-Eve Dicaire to become the undisputed junior middleweight champion. She then turned her attention to MMA, going 1-1 in the Professional Fighters League last year.

Now, the self-proclaimed “Greatest Woman of All Time” is focusing again on the sweet science and has the goal of becoming the undisputed and unified middleweight champion for the second time. She hopes to face WBO middleweight champion Savannah Marshall in the near future.

This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.

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