Former fighter turned promoter Dmitry Sarita has spent the past decade building his own promotion, Sarita, through a partnership with two-time Olympic gold medalist and undefeated two-division champion Claressa Shields. I have witnessed the growth of Promotions. Now, Sarita is calling for Shields to get the recognition he deserves after a historic weekend in boxing.
Sarita will host the third edition of Big Time Boxing USA on Thursday, when heavyweight Jermaine Franklin takes on Devin Vargas in a 10-round main event at Wayne State Fieldhouse in Detroit. This event will be broadcast exclusively on DAZN.
Sarita expressed frustration that Shields' name was not included in a list of undefeated champions, including Naoya Inoue, Terrence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk, that ESPN recently posted on social media.
Usyk recently defeated Tyson Fury to become the undisputed two-division champion.
“I saw a post today on ESPN Knockouts about Inoue, Crawford and Usyk, the undisputed champions who have four belts,” Sarita told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “Claressa Shields wasn't on that list, but she absolutely deserves to be on that list.”
Sarita emphasized the importance of recognizing the achievements of female fighters.
“For equality and the advancement of women's boxing, Claressa and other qualified champions should be part of the conversation,” she said. “If we don't do that, women's boxing will be isolated, demoted and not elevated to the level it needs to be.”
Shields' dominance in the ring is well known, and finding a suitable opponent is difficult.
“Claressa is an overwhelming fighter,” Sarita said. “She defeated Christina Hammer, who is a strong middleweight champion. She defeated Savannah Marshall, who is a very good fighter, in a very convincing way.”
Sarita didn't give details about who Shields' next opponent will be, but did acknowledge that she will return to the ring this summer, possibly at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. He also mentioned her various accomplishments in mixed martial arts.
“Claressa always wanted to be a two-sport star,” Sarita said. “The fact that Michael Jordan is not a superstar baseball player does not make him any less of a basketball player.”
Sarita expressed minimal concern about Shields being a two-sport athlete, saying, “I just hope she doesn't get hurt, but as an athlete, it's made her a better fighter.” said.
