Five-fight PPV line-up set for Friday with Shields vs. Dicarie on top

Press Release

01/03/2021

Five-fight PPV line-up set for Friday with Shields vs. Dicarie on top

The complete televised lineup for this week’s all-female pay-per-view event (Friday, March 5th) from the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Mich., has now been revealed with the addition of two more fights, including, in separate bouts, former amateur world champion and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Marlen Esparza and undefeated bantamweight Jamie Mitchell.  Esparza (8-1, 1 KO) of Houston will return to action for the first time this year against Canada's Shelly Barnett (3-1-2, 2 KOs) in a six-round bantamweight bout. And in the broadcast opener, Mitchell (5-0-2, 3 KO) of Pacific Grove, California, will look to continue her climb up the 118-pound rankings against Florida-based veteran Noemi “La Rebelde / No-No” Bosques (12-15-3, 2 KOs) over six rounds. 
 
Both fights will be presented in support of the ten-round 154-pound unification showdown between three-division and current WBC/WBO 154-pound champion Claressa Shields and her also-unbeaten IBF counterpart Marie-Eve Dicaire.
 
Already announced for the card was a chief support featuring former amateur standout Danielle Perkins (2-0, 1 KO) of Houston in an eight-round heavyweight rematch against Georgia’s Monika “Lay Em Down” Harrison (2-1, 1 KO). In another intriguing, televised match-up, South Carolina's Logan Holler (9-0-1, 3 KO) takes on Delaware's Schemelle Baldwin (3-1-2, 2 KO) over eight rounds.   
 
Esparza, the 2012 Olympic bronze medalist in the women's flyweight division, is the only other American woman besides Claressa Shields to win an Olympic medal in the sport of boxing. Esparza, like Shields, also won an amateur world championship at the 2014 AIBA World Boxing Championships in South Korea. A crossover star, Esparza has an endorsement deal with CoverGirl Cosmetics and has also appeared in a Spanish-language commercial for Coca-Cola. She was featured in Soledad O'Brien's 2011 CNN documentary In Her Corner: Latino in America 2, as well as an extensive profile in the June 2012 issue of The Atlantic. The addition of Esparza makes a total of three former amateur world champions on the card, with Perkins having also won in 2019. 
 
“I'm excited to be fighting on this historic all-women’s card around International Women’s Day and to be reunited with my 2012 Olympic teammate Claressa Shields,” said Esparza. “I also want to thank my opponent for taking this fight. I'm looking forward to representing all female fighters on March 5 and putting on a great performance. I want all my fans to tune in to this pay-per-view. This is a great night for women’s boxing and I’m grateful to be a part of it.”