All four heavyweight world titles – three of them vacant, one of which never existed before – will be on the line when Claressa Shields takes on Danielle Perkins on February 2.

That means Shields vs Perkins will be for the undisputed heavyweight championship, giving Shields an opportunity to become undisputed in a third weight class.

This may get a little confusing, so stick with us for a moment:

When Shields defeated Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse in July, she won the WBC heavyweight title and the vacant WBO light heavyweight belt.

Shields will defend her WBC heavyweight title against Perkins – and will be vying for the vacant IBF, WBA and WBO belts.

The IBF’s rankings list only two fighters at heavyweight: Perkins and Minellis Blanco. The world title is vacant.

The WBA has never had a heavyweight division before but will be creating one for this fight, according to Chris DeBlasio, a spokesman for Salita Promotions, which promotes Shields.

Until now, the highest weight class for the WBA was light heavyweight, which has seven fighters, including titleholder Che Kenneally.
The WBO has cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions, though there is no one currently ranked at cruiserweight and only two people are rated at heavyweight: Lepage-Joanisse (who hasn’t fought above 200 pounds since 2017) and Blanco (whose entire career has been above 200 pounds).

Shields-Perkins will be held at a contractual catchweight, although the show’s promoters did not disclose what that weight limit will be.

Shields, 15-0 (3 KOs) is a two-time Olympic gold medalist who won world titles at 168lbs, moved down in weight to become the undisputed champion at 160 and 154, then returned to middleweight to regain a title she had vacated and become undisputed at 160 once again. She jumped from 160 to 175 for the Lepage-Joanisse bout.

Perkins, 5-0 (2 KOs) won an amateur world championship in 2019. She had her first three professional fights between August 2020 and March 2021, weighing in between 195 and 198lbs for each. Perkins then spent three years out of the ring before returning earlier this year much lighter than before. She came in at 178 for a victory over Timea Nagy in March and at 175.5 for a July victory over Christianne Fahey.

Shields-Perkins will headline at the Dort Financial Center in Shields’ hometown of Flint, Michigan. The card will be broadcast on DAZN.

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