Dmitriy Salita is certain he’ll be able to reschedule Claressa Shields’ 154-pound title unification fight against Marie-Eve Dicaire.
Shields’ promoter isn’t nearly as confident that he’ll ever complete a deal for a Sheilds-Cecilia Braekhus bout. His fighter remains interested in boxing Braekhus and has stated she’ll move down as close as she can get to 147 pounds to face the undefeated, undisputed women’s welterweight champion.
Salita senses, however, that Braekhus just doesn’t want to fight Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who has won world titles in three weight classes since she turned pro in November 2016.
“She’s definitely not interested in the fight,” Salita told BoxingScene.com. “It’s something that we’re not pursuing because her team knows Claressa is ready, willing and able to fight her. And again, Cecilia is a great fighter and she’s very accomplished and this is nothing against her. But in terms of her talking about fighting Claressa, it’s just been for press and talk. There has been nothing serious about that conversation – ever.”
Norway’s Braekhus (36-0, 9 KOs) was supposed to defend her IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC and WBO 147-pound crowns against Chicago’s Jessica McCaskill (8-2, 3 KOs) on April 17 at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. That show – which was scheduled to feature former junior welterweight champions Regis Prograis (24-1, 20 KOs) and Maurice Hooker (27-1-3, 18 KOs) in the 12-round, 143-pound main event – was postponed indefinitely last week due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Shields-Dicaire card, which was scheduled for May 9 at Dort Federal Credit Union Event Center in Shields’ hometown of Flint, Michigan, also was postponed indefinitely Wednesday. When that show is rescheduled, Shields (10-0, 2 KOs) and Quebec’s Dicaire (17-0, no KOs) will fight for Shields’ WBC and WBO 154-pound championships and Decaire’s IBF belt.
If Shields, 25, and Braekhus, 38, win their respective rescheduled matches, Salita isn’t optimistic about Braekhus becoming more willing to fight Shields at a catch weight between the welterweight and junior middleweight limits. Braekhus has fought at welterweight, the division in which she has held at least two world titles for 11 years, for most of her 13-year pro career.
“In our conversations about Braekhus, Claressa said that she would come close to [147],” Salita said. “I don’t know that she could make [147], but she would come close. But with Cecilia, the conversation never became material. She never wanted to take the business conversation to the next level. Claressa has sacrificed herself to make the biggest fights and to continue to make her story. You know, usually fighters go up in weight. Claressa started at 168 and came down to 160, and now has come down to 154.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.