Claressa Shields says a fight with Lauren Price is likely to land in the first quarter of 2027, giving women's boxing one of its most anticipated matchups a clear timeline for the first time.

Shields, a 31-year-old multi-weight undisputed champion who currently reigns as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, revealed the target window in an interview with BBC Sport BBC Sport. An undisputed champion holds all four major sanctioning body belts in a single division — the cleanest definition of a division's number one.

Before she gets to Price, Shields has business to attend to. She will move down to middleweight (160 lbs) to challenge Australia's WBA and WBC world champion Kaye Scott on 15 August in Atlanta, Georgia. Dropping down from heavyweight to middleweight is a significant weight shift, but Shields has campaigned across multiple weight classes throughout her career.

The 32-year-old Price, a unified welterweight champion and Olympic gold medallist, currently campaigns at 147 lbs. A meeting with Shields would likely require her to move up to middleweight. Shields said she believes Price would take a warm-up fight at that weight to adjust before facing her, though Price's return date to the ring remains unknown BBC Sport.

The seeds for this fight were planted visibly. Shields flew to Cardiff in April, positioning herself ringside for Price's points victory over Stephanie Pineiro. The two faced off in the ring afterwards — a moment that turned speculation into something concrete BBC Sport. Price called for the Shields fight immediately after that win, telling Reuters there was no reason to delay it and that she was in her prime Reuters.

Price's promoter, Ben Shalom, has previously said a two-fight deal between the pair was agreed, with discussions reportedly including a multi-fight arrangement BBC Sport. Shields has floated the idea of fighting in both the US and the UK, saying the bout could go to America and come back to Wales.

Shields has lost only once in boxing — an amateur defeat to Britain's Savannah Marshall, which she avenged in the professional ranks at London's O2 Arena in 2022. She has told BBC Sport she expects Price to be a tougher fight than Marshall was BBC Sport.

For fans, this is a meeting of two fighters with near-flawless resumes. Shields has conquered every weight class she has touched. Price, still building her professional legacy after Olympic glory, holds two of the four major welterweight belts. The question of how Price's speed and technical skill translate against Shields' physicality at a higher weight is exactly what makes this fight compelling — and why a warm-up at middleweight for Price makes sense before stepping in with someone who has never lost as a professional.

There is still work to do. Price needs a return date, the weight details need finalising, and both camps have to agree on terms for what could span multiple fights. But for the first time, the calendar has a name attached to it: early 2027.