The Costa Rican Hanna Gabriels (18-1-1, 11 KO’s), explosive in the ring, is in Michigan with the mission of making her name acquire a higher level of notoriety in women’s boxing worldwide.

To do this, she will have to beat Claressa “T-Rex” Shields on home turf this Friday at the Masonic Temple, where she has the opportunity to hang the vacant middleweight titles of the WBA and the IBF.

Shields, 23, is quite the obstacle in her path and it figures to be the fight of the night. The American, with an unbeaten record in five matches with two knockouts, already knows what it’s like to be world champion like the veteran, so you can expect a good show.

Gabriels appeared for the last time in the ring in October of last year to collect revenge from Oxandia Castillo, who in 2013 gave her the only defeat of her career and now her desire is to make a successful showing to a third weight division.

At 35 years, “La Amazona” has all the weapons, experience, and motivation to be crowned in the middle division, however, with the thrust of her youth Shields will try to overcome the experience gap. The native of Alajuela has on her shoulders the representation of pugilism in Central American territory and will also defend that honor as well.

For her part, Shields started in this sport in November of 2016 and her three most recent fights have been for headline fights, so little by little she has been gaining experience on the big stage. Meanwhile, Gabriels was already welterweight and super welter champion and is now going for the middleweight title.

As a last requirement for this fight to be a reality, both boxers had to beat the scales and indeed they did. Gabriels, who was the first to climb onto the scale, stopped the needle at 159.6 pounds while her rival Shields made the same weight at 159.6, leaving everything else to develop inside the ring in one of the most anticipated fights in women’s boxing so far in 2018.