The women’s card features two major world championship fights: the undisputed middleweight title unification bout between bitter rivals Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall and a three-belt junior lightweight unification showdown between Mikaela Mayer and Alycia Baumgardner , was postponed on Friday due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Events across the UK were canceled or postponed in the wake of Queen Elizabeth’s death aged 96 on Thursday, including Premier League football matches, as the country enters an official 10-year period of national mourning. days.
Shields-Marshall and Mayer-Baumgardner were scheduled to take place on Saturday at The O2 in London and air on ESPN+ in the US and air on Sky Sports in the UK.
Boxxer, the promoter of the card, hopes to reschedule it for October 15 at The O2.
“This is an unprecedented moment in our history and our sincere thoughts are primarily with the Royal Family and the nation at this time. Out of respect, the British Boxing Board of Control has decided to postpone Saturday’s show,” Boxxer CEO Ben Shalom said. “All parties are working on a tentative date of Saturday 15th October at The O2 to stage this unique and iconic night of celebration for women’s sport at a more appropriate time.”
Boxxer also announced that all tickets for Saturday’s card, which would be the first of many boxing events held at The O2 headlined by a women’s fight, would remain valid for the rescheduled date.
After the queen’s death on Thursday, Boxxer announced that Friday’s weigh-in would go ahead as planned, but “out of deepest respect” it would take place behind closed doors without the media and fans. could attend and that the status of the program would be updated “after consultation with relevant government and sports sector bodies”.
On Friday, the weigh-in was delayed until 3pm London time, and then the show was canceled after the British Boxing Board of Control, which regulates the sport in the UK, announced that all boxing events in the weekend had been cancelled.
“The British Boxing Board of Control has decided that all tournaments this weekend will be postponed as a show of respect to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” the board said in a statement. “We join as a nation in mourning and paying tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, honoring her dedication to our country during her long reign and her legacy that she leaves behind.”
Shields said he understood the reason for the postponement.
“Regarding the country, I understand that the death of the Queen of the country is in mourning for the entire country,” Shields wrote on Twitter. “The government is speaking and those in higher power. Whatever the decision, I respect it.”
Three-division champion Shields (12-0, 2 KOs), 27, of Flint, Michigan, who currently holds three of the 160-pound titles, and WBO champion Marshall (12-0, 10 KOs), 31, from England. they have a long-running feud, making their fight one of the most anticipated in women’s boxing.
Shields, who was the undisputed middleweight champion before vacating the belt Marshall ultimately won, is looking to avenge her only boxing loss. She was 77-1 as an amateur and won two Olympic gold medals, but she lost a 14-8 decision as a teenager to Marshall in a disputed fight in 2012.
Mayer (17-0, 5 KOs), 32, Shields’ 2016 U.S. Olympian teammate from Los Angeles, and Baumgardner (12-1, 7 KOs), 28, of Bingham Farms, Michigan, have met. been trash talking for months and that didn’t stop when the fight was postponed.
“Your ass got postponed! Have fun gaining weight back,” Baumgardner mocked Mayer on Twitter.
Mayer’s response: “Your payday has been postponed! Have fun being a screwed up bitch again.”
