UNDISPUTED

THE BIGGEST FIGHT IN WOMEN'S BOXING HAS RAGED FOR 00 YEARS: THE BATTLE FOR RECOGHITION OF THE SPORT ITSELF. NOW T'S. ARGUABLY BEATING THE MEN'S GAME, THANKS IN LARGE PART TO FOUR FIGHTERS FROM TWO HISTORIC BOUTS.

- RICHARD EDWARDS

Last year saw the first women’s boxing match to ever headline Madison Square Garden. Billed as the biggest women's fight of all time," it was the most-watched female bout in history for just six months. Another fight was already set to take its crown.

It’s a Friday afternoon in Bethnal Green, a neighborhood in London’s East End. It’s the middle of October, but the mercury remains stuck in the mid-60s; there’s no hint of a winter chill. At least not outside. By contrast, the atmosphere inside the Genesis Cinema is distinctly frosty. Due on stage for the weigh-in are Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall—the former unbeaten in professional boxing, the latter the only fighter to ever taste victory over her during their amateur days). For boxing fans, it’s like the night before Christmas, as the pair prepare to face off outside the ring for a final time before the new biggest fight in women’s boxing history.

Looking on, Nicola Adams, the first female boxer to become a double Olympic champion, and Johnny Nelson, a former world cruiserweight champion, talk excitedly while they wait for the American, Shields, and her English opponent to appear. Seats usually reserved for the latest blockbuster movie are full. There’s no popcorn in sight.

In the U.K., anticipation for a fight already delayed four weeks due to the death of the queen has been heightened by the postponement of another last week: Chris Eubank Jr.’s clash with Conor Benn at the O2 Arena, the venue where this fight will take place tomorrow. The buzz spreads well beyond the walls of this nondescript building. Crystina Poncher, a premier boxing commentator for ESPN in the U.S., explains that it’s not just the Shields vs. Marshall matchup but the fact that this is the first all-female card ever that’s creating waves.