Shields is 11 years younger than the defending WBA and WBC 160-pound champion and still in her physical prime. Australia’s Scott, 42, has just seven fights on her professional record and, despite spending 15 years as part of her country’s national team, did not compete in the Olympics.

Shields, of course, is a two-time Olympic gold medalist who has barely lost rounds in any of her 18 professional fights. The Flint, Michigan native has also won world titles in five weight classes and became undisputed champion in three divisions.

Like most huge underdogs, Scott used the prevailing lack of belief in her ability to defeat Shields as additional motivation in advance of a 10-round main event DAZN will stream from State Farm Arena in Atlanta (8:30 p.m. ET). Shields has no history, however, of overlooking opponents, no matter how heavily favored she has been since she made her pro debut in November 2016.

She has taken that same professional approach to a fight she needs to win to ensure a more meaningful, marketable bout against undefeated, unified welterweight champ Lauren Price (10-0, 2 KOs). The Welsh southpaw – who is ranked No. 8 on The Ring’s pound-for-pound list, six spots beneath Shields – is committed to moving up two weight classes to challenge Shields sometime early in 2027 if Shields regains two middleweight titles from Scott (5-1-1).

“She’s older than me, but she was around the amateurs way longer than I was around the amateurs,” Shields told The Ring regarding Scott. “And now that she’s turned pro, she was fast-tracked to a world championship because of her amateur experience. She has ties to Mark Taffett (Shields’ former manager). He positioned her to where she fought for the belts. They were vacant when I went to 175 to fight at heavyweight, and she won them.”

Scott won the then-vacant WBA and WBC belts by beating Olivia Curry via majority decision in her last fight, which occurred December 20 at Fox Theater in Detroit.

Chicago’s Curry (7-3-2, 2 KOs) and Scott fought to a 10-round majority draw three months earlier at the same venue, but Scott won their rematch comfortably on two scorecards (98-92, 97-93, 95-95). Scott lost a unanimous decision to fellow Australian Desley Robinson (12-4, 4 KOs) in their 10-round fight for the then-vacant IBF middleweight title in December 2024, eight months after Scott beat Robinson by majority decision in an eight-rounder.

The weight at which they’ll fight is also perceived to be an advantage for Sydney’s Scott because Shields (18-0, 3 KOs) hasn’t fought at the middleweight limit in three years. Her past four fights were contested at 175 pounds, the heavyweight maximum for women.

“I think that Kaye Scott is very worthy to be here,” Shields said, “and, you know, I look forward to sharing the ring with her August 15. And, of course, my job is to always go out there and just dominate, because that’s just what I do. So, it wouldn’t matter if Kaye was 40-0, 20-0, 10-0, 5-0, whatever. That’s still my job and I’ve always came out on top and won.”