Quebec boxer Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse will face American Claressa Shields in a unified championship fight on July 27 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Eye of the Tiger Management announced in a press release on Tuesday.
The WBC heavyweight and WBO light heavyweight titles will be at stake for the occasion, in a fight contested at 175 lbs.
Lepage-Joanisse (7-1, 2 KOs) will not only try to defend his WBC heavyweight title acquired last March against Argentina’s Abril Argentina Vidal, but also to acquire the one belonging to Shields.
“Whether it’s Claressa or someone else, I don’t care! Challenges are part of my life, I have always faced them and it will stay like that! », Launched Lepage-Joanisse. “It’s an incredible opportunity for Vanessa, and even for all of Quebec, to be part of the history of sport forever,” added the president of EOTTM, Camille Estephan.
For her part, Shields (14-0, 2 KOs), who won gold at the Olympic Games in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016, notably beat Quebecer Marie-Ève Dicaire by unanimous decision on March 5, 2021 in Flint, Michigan.
“The Queen of Boxing is back! I’m so excited to get back in the ring, especially after my extreme fight victory in February,” Shields said in a statement.
