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Boxing

Claressa Shields or Katie Taylor: Who is the women's pound-for-pound number one?

Claressa Shields or Katie Taylor: Who is the women's pound-for-pound number one?DAZN

Whenever a landmark fight in boxing concludes, the debate around a fighter's pound-for-pound ranking rears its head and Saturday night was no different when Claressa Shields beat Savannah Marshall to become the undisputed women's middleweight title, and now fans are discussing who is the top pound-for-pound fighter in women's boxing. 

Many before the fight had Katie Taylor at the top of those rankings, but now Shields has added another accolade to her resume, there is sufficient argument that the American should occupy the number one spot. 

However, DAZN Boxing analyst Darren Barker believes it is difficult to separate the two when it comes to the pound-for-pound debate. 

"It’s a tough one. I guess you have to have them both level, it’s not really fair. I guess the tough thing is they’re never going to fight because of the weights," Barker told DAZN

"I guess it’s what you like and what you prefer, they’ve both beaten some exceptional fighters.

"They have achieved so many great things in the sport, even going back to the amateurs, I think those two certainly reign supreme, they are on another level right now.

"I was about to say Katie Taylor, but I feel like that’s unfair on Claressa Shields. I have to put them on the same number one spot.

"If it was two heavyweights we were talking about like Usyk and Fury, there’s always that chance that even if I did pick one over the other, they have got that opportunity to fight each other and prove everybody including myself wrong.

"Taylor and Shields are never going to fight, so for me to pick one over the other is not fair, they should both be celebrated together as pound-for-pound queens."

Taylor returns on October 29 to defend her undisputed women's lightweight title against Karen Elizabeth Carabajal live on DAZN (except Australia and New Zealand), in what will be her first fight since the thrilling encounter with Amanda Serrano earlier this year.