Women’s boxing is approaching a major transition as Katie Taylor prepares for her farewell fight, Amanda Serrano considers retirement, and Claressa Shields plans to take time away from the sport in 2027.
Taylor and Serrano helped prove women’s boxing could become a major commercial attraction, headlining Madison Square Garden and later reaching huge audiences through Netflix. The challenge now is finding stars capable of maintaining that momentum.
Gabriela Fundora, Caroline Dubois and Alycia Baumgardner are among the leading candidates to emerge alongside Shields. A potential Dubois-Baumgardner rivalry could be especially important, with the two competing close enough in weight to eventually produce a major fight.
The promotional landscape will also play a major role. Most leading female fighters are now concentrated around Most Valuable Promotions, while several other major boxing promoters have reduced their involvement. Greater investment across multiple platforms could create more opportunities and expose women’s boxing to larger audiences.
Zuffa Boxing’s arrival could eventually increase competition for female talent, but splitting a relatively small talent pool between closed promotional rosters could also make major fights harder to produce. The next phase of women’s boxing may therefore depend not only on creating new stars, but also on ensuring those stars can actually fight each other.
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