After the loudest yet quietist weekend in British boxing for a while, the sport bounces back with one of the most anticipated fights of the year. Boxing is in the news for all the wrong reasons at the moment, so let's hope for a week where our sport is front and centre for reasons right.

We've heard a lot, these past few years, about THAT amateur fight. The sole blemish on the otherwise spotless record of Claressa Shields. Whether she admits so or not, it's one that cuts deep. Let's set the scene...

It's 2012, and the northern Chinese town of Qinhuangdao is ready to host edition number seven of the Women's World Amateur Championships. Looking back, it was a tournament littered with names we now associate as some of the sport's trailblazers in recent years. 

Katie Taylor struck gold for the fourth time in a lightweight mix that included Britain's most recent unified world champion, Tasha Jonas. At flyweight, Nicola Adams was second-best for the third championship running - she would grab her gold four years later in Astana. Mikaela Mayer's only World Championship appearance saw her leave with a bronze, whilst fellow American Franchon Crews-Dezurn missed out on a medal by the skin of her teeth. 

But upon looking back, the tournament’s most notable feature is that it was the beginning of one of the most hostile rivalries in female combat sport. 

In the round of 32, a 17-year-old Claressa Shields was beaten by Savannah Marshall. Savannah would go on to win middleweight gold just five days later. In a situation that now seems illogical, Claressa gave her unwavering support to Savannah, as her tournament progression beyond their fight would impact Claressa's chances of Olympic qualification. 

It all sounds a bit messy, but just try to a picture a scene in which Claressa congratulates her now bitter rival with a hug... 

Exactly. It's madness. The pleasantries didn't last long, however, and it has been bad blood ever since. 

Claressa's London Olympic qualification may have rested on the shoulders of her rival, but it was her boxing ability that led her to the first of two Olympic golds. She swept the field away en route to the top of the podium at London 2012, and if things had gone differently, could have even met Savannah in the semi-final. 

But she didn't, and in the build up to Saturday night, it hasn't been something she has allowed her to forget. She claims Savannah "let her country down" with her home Olympics display. 

After an eventful tournament in London, both Claressa and Savannah went their separate ways, and golds at the Pan-American and Commonwealth Games followed respectively. With the talent pool at 75kg paper thin, it was inevitable that they would have the chance to cross paths again. 

However, that wasn't the case. Claressa dominated the 2014 and 2016 editions of the World Championships, not dropping a round as she bought home her first and second medals in Canada and Kazakhstan. Savannah exited early in 2014, but in 2016 came away with a bronze. 

Both would then enter the 2016 Rio Olympics as the two tournament favourites. On opposite sides of the draw, it seemed primed for them both to meet at the gold medal stage. Unfortunately, Savannah fell in the quarter-finals to the Netherland's Nouchka Fontijn, who lost to Claressa in the final. 

Savannah was hit hard by what was a controversial defeat in Brazil but was signed by Floyd Mayweather just a year after. Claressa had turned professional immediately after the Olympics, and from here began the second phase of the rivalry that will continue this weekend.

Since then, it has been nothing but verbal sparring. Five years of back-and-forth that has led us to a crowning moment not just for these two, but for the female fight game as a whole. 

There's only one way to settle this score... bring on Saturday.
Oscar Bevis

Official reporter for iFL TV