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Claressa Shields To Fight WBC Champion Adler In August

By NOAH TRISTER, AP Sports Writer

DETROIT (AP) — Two-time Olympic boxing champion Claressa Shields is set to face unbeaten WBC super middleweight champion Nikki Adler on Aug. 4 in Detroit.

Shields, a Flint native, has won all three of her fights as a pro. Adler will make a third defense of her WBC 168-pound title. The vacant IBF super middleweight championship also will be at stake.

"I think she just has really that dominance that comes with her," Shields said. "She's the champ, and I have to go in and take her belt."

Adler (16-0) won the WBC crown in 2013 when she outpointed Zane Brige in Russia. Adler is a former German amateur champion.

"I am the multiple-time world champion and Claressa is a two-time Olympic gold medalist — why not fight in the biggest matchup possible?" Adler said in a statement. "This is a great challenge and we both will show our true potential. I know I'll give everything I have to be successful, as I have always done. I've fought throughout the world, but never in the U.S."

Shields said Adler wanted to come to the United States, and now the bout will take place near home for Shields. It will be broadcast on Showtime from MGM Grand.

In March, Shields became the first woman to headline a fight card on premium cable when she stopped Szilvia Szabados in the fourth round for the NABF middleweight championship on Showtime. This will be her second time headlining on national television.

"I used to watch the fights online — no girl ever fought on TV," Shields said. "It just shows that people want to see me fight. I have a large audience, and Showtime believes in me."

(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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