On Friday, January 10, Claressa Shields and Ivana Habazin will battle for the vacant WBC and WBO Light Middleweight titles in a fight that can be seen on Showtime. Shields is 9-0 in her career with two knockouts, while Habazin is 20-3 with nine knockouts. The fight between Shields and Habazin will take place at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey and will be featured on Showtime as a part of the main event card with a start time of 9 p.m. Eastern. Let’s look at the bout and boxing picks.
Boxing Odds at Bookmaker.eu
Claressa Shields: Check Back Later
Ivana Habazin: Check Back Later
Over/Under Rounds: Check Back Later
Claressa Shields (9-0, 2 knockouts)
In her last six fights, Shields has six wins and no losses. She defeated Nikki Adler by TKO in the fifth round, Tori Nelson by unanimous decision, Hanna Gabriel by unanimous decision, Hannah Rankin by unanimous decision, Femke Hermans by unanimous decision, and Christina Hammer by unanimous decision. Shields gets a knockout win 22.22% of the time.
Shields said this to espn.com about her upcoming bout against Habazin, “My goal is to become three-division champ faster than any man or woman in history. This is a very significant fight for both of us. We have both trained really hard twice and great opportunities await the winner, so hopefully three times is the charm.”
Ivana Habazin (20-3, 9 knockouts)
In her last six fights, Habazin has five wins and one loss. She defeated Valentina Stankovic by unanimous decision, Sanja Ristic by unanimous decision, Elene Sikmashvili by TKO in the fifth round, Gifty Amanua Ankrah by unanimous decision, and Eva Bajic by unanimous decision; while losing to Mikaela Laurén by TKO in the third round. Habazin gets a knockout win 30.43% of the time.
Habazin said this to espn.com about her upcoming bout against Shields, “I've been thinking about this since October and I have more of an incentive now given what happened. I feel like I'm fighting for James Ali Bashir, as well as for my own pride and respect. I'm also fighting for my country. I want to make Croatia proud that I am their daughter, and I feel that I now have their full support. Claressa is just a brief stop on my journey. I have bigger dreams and bigger shoes to fill in my life. I'm on my way to fulfilling my personal legend -- being crowned the undisputed women's junior middleweight champion. This is just another step on that journey. Given my faith, I feel that while what happened in October was incredibly unfortunate, this was God's plan. And I have faith that my hand will be raised in victory in January.”
Boxing Picks
Shields and Habazin have been waiting to fight each other for quite some time, as an injury derailed their first meeting and a trainer injury stopped them a second time. Shields is a huge favorite to win this fight and while she will probably win, I am not laying the big price. The question is whether or not you can make a case for taking Habazin. We can definitely make a case for Habazin based on motivation, as she wants to win for her trainer and her country. Maybe that is enough to make placing a small wager on Habazin worthwhile. Neither of these fighters has a ton of power, so playing the rounds to go over is also worth considering and may be the best bet.
Boxing Pick: Ivana Habazin by unanimous decision and the rounds to go over the total.
With the boxing odds at BookMaker Sportsbook, you can bet on boxing all year, from smaller cards to pay-per-view events. Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker Sportsbook. Shields vs. Habazin will take place at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Friday, January 10 and will be featured on Showtime.
