Hanna Gabriels feels like “certain” fighters are ducking her!
WBA regular junior middleweight champion Hanna “La Amazona Black” Gabriels will be a very interested spectator on March 5. Unified junior middleweight champion Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (10-0, 2KOs) takes on IBF champion Marie Eve Dicaire (17-0) to crown an undisputed champion in the division.
Back in 2018 Gabriels squared off with the then WBA middleweight champion for the vacant IBF middleweight title. Moving up six pounds, Gabriels would suffer her second career defeat. Although she would score a knockdown in the first round, which remains as the only time Shields has tasted canvas in her career amateur or pro! Since, she’s been vocal about getting a rematch with Shields not very interested in the notion.
RELATED: Hannah Gabriels to Claressa Shields: “I’ll Be Waiting at 154!”
Unfortunately for her that, hasn’t quite materialized just yet.
WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THE SHIELDS VS DICAIRE TITLE FIGHT?
Her interest in the fight stems from the WBA super title being on the line to allow the victor to be an undisputed champion. When she fought T-Rex in 2018 it was with the understanding that win, lose, or draw she would still be the WBA super champion at junior middleweight upon returning to the division. However, since shields made her move down to the same division, the WBA seemed ready to move on from Gabriels. After defeating the sub-par Ivana Habazin for two vacant titles (WBC and WBO), it didn’t take long for rumors to circulate that Shields would be up for taking on Dicaire with the WBA title on the line. This despite the title still in possession of Gabriels.
To make matters worse, La Amazona Black had a fight lined up to face Dicaire before first. In November 2019, Gabriels was expected to make a fourth WBA title defense on the undercard of Dicaire’s third defense against Ogleidis Suarez. If the two were to win, a unification was on horizon. However, an injury knocked La Amazona Black off the card which cancelled the expected two-title battle. The WBA not once elected to revisit this match-up but instead decided to demote Gabriels on account of Shields’ unified status.
One problem the former super champion could have is she has not been active since July 2019!
CLARESSA SHIELDS RESPONDS
The former super champion put out a statement claiming “historic level of ducking happening”. While she didn’t specifically name anyone, a lot of people turned their attention to T-Rex. Of course a response didn’t take long!
While Shields did beat Gabriels she did so at middleweight and not junior middleweight. Therefore, La Amazona Black is well within her right to express her displeasure with the decision made by the WBA. Nevertheless, she understands Shields is a hot commodity with a storied amateur and professional career thus far.
Still it doesn’t make it right. If we’re being honest here, her fight with Dicaire should be a unification bout instead of one for undisputed with only the WBC, IBF and WBO titles at stake!
By: Jerrell Fletcher & EJ Williams
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