Claressa Shields vs Ema Kozin: Date, time, card & everything to know about the title fight

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By Olly Roberts

Published Jan 31, 2022

Shields and Kozin will fight on the undercard of Chris Eubank Jr vs Liam Williams

Claressa Shields will put her undefeated boxing record on the line this weekend as she bids to defend her middleweight titles against Slovenia’s Ema Kozin.

Shields last defended her belts back in March 2021 and has since fought twice in MMA –– winning her first bout, before losing the second.

So far in her career, Shields’ only boxing defeat came against British fighter Savannah Marshall at amateur level and a rematch between the pair has been heavily touted for some time.

That fight could come to fruition later this year, but only if Shields manages to get past Kozin first.

Here’s everything you need to know about the fight:

What’s on the line?

Shields currently holds the WBA, WBC, IBF and The Ring middleweight titles and will put them all on the line against Kozin this weekend.

Kozin is a middleweight world champion in her own right and holds the WBF and WIBA titles.

The 23-year-old Slovenian is also an undefeated fighter and boasts a record of 21 wins and one draw from 22 professional fights.

Therefore, unless the fight ends in a draw, one of the two fighters will lose their unbeaten record for good.

Who else is on the card?

Shields and Kozin will fight on the undercard of Chris Eubank Jr’s showdown with Liam Williams.

The hotly anticipated clash was due to take place last December but was postponed after Williams suffered a recurrence of an ongoing shoulder injury.

Eubank, who is signed with promotional company BOXXER alongside the likes of Shields, won his previous fight against Wanik Awdijan with a stoppage victory.
Williams, however, lost his last fight against Demetrius Andrade, where he competed for the WBO middleweight title.

The winner of this fight may well determine who’s next in line for another title shot.

Where is it?

The fights will take place in Cardiff at the Motorpoint Arena, where the Welsh crowd are expected to back home favourite Williams.

This will be the first time either Shields or Kozin has ever fought in the UK. All 11 of Shields’ previous contests have been in her home country of the United States, while Kozin has fought in multiple locations, including the likes of Germany, Hungary and Croatia.