Shields, Dicaire Can't Fight Saturday Night; They'll Talk About It On YouTube Instead

Claressa Shields and Marie-Eve Dicaire wish they could spend Saturday night punching each other in the face.

Instead of fighting for the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 154-pound titles, the unbeaten women’s champions will have to settle for discussing what could happen when they actually do square off. Shields and Dicaire, who were supposed to fight Saturday night, will both be interviewed on “K9 Boxing Live,” a live stream former IBF junior middleweight champion Cornelius Bundrage will host on Salita Promotions’ YouTube channel.

The event is set to start Saturday night at 9:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. PT.

“Of course, I wish I was fighting this weekend for my second undisputed world championship,” Shields said. “But there are bigger things at stake right now and we all need to be focused on staying well. I’ve been working out regularly and virtually training with my fans online. With that being said, I cannot wait to be able to return to training, and I look forward to fighting Dicaire for the undisputed 154-pound titles as soon as we can.”

Shields (10-0, 2 KOs) won the WBC and WBO junior middleweight titles by beating Croatia’s Ivana Habazin (20-4, 7 KOs) by unanimous decision in her last fight, a 10-rounder January 10 at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Quebec’s Dicaire (17-0, no KOs) has made three defenses of the IBF 154-pound crown she won in December 2018.

“I’m really looking forward to participating in this online interview with Claressa Shields,” Dicaire said. “I love talking about my passion for boxing, and it will allow me to introduce myself to fans in the U.S., so they can find out about who I am as an athlete.”

Showtime was supposed to televise Shields-Dicaire as the main event of a telecast Saturday night from Dort Federal Credit Union Event Center in Shields’ hometown of Flint, Michigan. Their fight was postponed indefinitely March 25 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whenever she encounters Dicaire, the 25-year-old Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, will attempt to become an undisputed champion in a second weight class. She became the undisputed middleweight champion in April 2019, when she defeated Germany’s Christina Hammer (25-1, 11 KOs, 1 NC) by unanimous decision in a 10-round, 160-pound title unification fight at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Shields and Dicaire will fight for the vacant WBA’s “super” 154-pound championship, in addition to the IBF, WBC and WBO belts. Hanna Gabriels (20-2-1, 11 KOs) is the WBA’s world champion at that weight, but Shields beat Costa Rica’s Gabriels by unanimous decision in a 10-round middleweight title fight in June 2018 in Detroit. 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.