Claressa Shields: “I am a once-in-a-lifetime athlete.”

Claressa Shields: “I am a once-in-a-lifetime athlete.”

It’s fight week again for Claressa Shields. The 31-year-old has yet to suffer a defeat in her 18-fight professional career. In truth, the former two-time Olympic champion hasn’t come close to losing.

The Australian Kaye Scott will be next for Shields. Scott will defend her WBC and WBA world middleweight titles against the decorated American. There is respect between the pair. “I am respectful to all the girls, until they disrespect me,” Shields told FightPost over Zoom.

Shields and Scott know each other from their amateur run. They have shared a few rounds together. “I think Kaye is very strong,” Shields told me. “Very athletic. Very awkward. We sparred once or twice in our amateur days. I just remember her being awkward when we sparred. That’s about it. I have seen some of her workout videos. She is very strong.”

Claressa Shields is the current undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, but is dropping back down to middleweight for the fight against Scott, which takes place on Saturday night in Atlanta, Georgia.

“I haven’t been at 160 for three years,” Shields says. “So coming down from 175 hasn’t been easy. It’s been extremely difficult. But we have been making it work, and the pounds have been moving. I am happy about that. But I have had to tighten up on my nutrition. My strength and conditioning had to get up. My cardio had to get up. My body has already made a huge transformation.”

Shields has moved back down the weights in search of the major fights. The American isn’t short of options. “I would like to get a superfight with either Lauren Price or Mikaela Mayer at 160. But I am not going to stay there. I have way more competition at 175. I would like to go back up there after I am done at 160. I am just coming down to get a few superfights.”

There has been much talk about Shields and Mikaela Mayer sharing a ring together. Mayer has told me recently that a fight with Shields is still very much of interest to her. Shields agrees. “Everybody wants to fight the GWOAT. Mikaela knows I am down for that.”

Lauren Price has teased imminent fight news, which looks like being a defence of her welterweight titles, which could delay any fight with Shields until 2027. “It depends on how much time Lauren needs to get ready for our fight,” Shields says of a potential fight with Price. “After August 15th, if everything goes to plan, I want to fight in December or January. If she isn’t ready by then, I will probably be fighting someone else. I plan on having a baby next year, so I won’t be waiting around. So she needs to hurry and make the fight.”

Alycia Baumgardner and Shields have certainly had their issues over the past few months, but any potential fight between the pair was quickly shot down by Shields. “She’s not on my level. She is nowhere near it.”

The success of Claressa Shields is obvious. A double Olympic champion. A world champion in five different weight divisions, undisputed in three of them. Shields will walk into the Hall of Fame when she is eligible to do so. That success Shields attributes to sheer hard work. “Nineteen world championships later. Two Olympic gold medals later. Four-time undisputed champion. I am no one-hit wonder. When those big fights are signed, I show up. That’s just what I do. People just think it’s about fight night. But I show up every day in the gym. This fight camp has been twelve weeks, and I’ve shown up every day for myself, my team, and my fans.”

It’s not just about the fight for Claressa Shields. It’s about the entire week leading up to the actual fight. “I enjoy the ring walks,” Shields told me. “I enjoy fight weeks. I enjoy all the festivities of fight week. Signing autographs and taking pictures. Right now, I walk into the mall, and people are crowding around me, wanting pictures. But there will be a time when that will die down. I want to embrace all the love and all my hard work. It will die down, but right now my life is like being a rock star. Fight week is very exciting for me because I get to interact with everybody face-to-face. To be able to fight in front of 18,000 fans like I did for my last fight and hear everyone chanting. Seeing people crying when I won. I was like, wow, this is really great. I couldn’t have envisioned this as a young girl. I envisioned the gold medal, but to be a world champion and fighting on TV, walking out with some of the biggest celebrities, I didn’t picture that.”

“Dmitry (Salita) is so lucky; he is a promoter, but I promote myself,” Shields added. “He gets to promote the fight and do what he does best. But I am making content, interacting with the fans. I make it very easy for him to be my promoter.”

Despite all that success, Shields is hungry for even more. “I am going to fight until I’ve no fight left. But right now, I am always ready for a challenge. I love my training camps. I heard Terence (Crawford) say he didn’t enjoy his because he puts his body through a lot, and that’s why he retired. But I enjoy training camps. Spending time with my team, going to the gym and grinding. We are all working out on the same diet. We are all just grinding together. It’s not like they are just watching me work. They are adding to it. I enjoy that. It reminds me of Colorado Springs when I was an amateur.

“I am the best now, and the best there ever will be. I know that because I am not satisfied. Despite everything I have achieved already, I know that I will achieve more. I know it will never be done again. I am a once-in-a-lifetime athlete. I could fight forever, but I think when I am 38, I will call it and retire. But we have got seven more years to make the best fights.”

As she says herself, Shields is a promoter’s dream. She sells a fight better than virtually any other fighter on the planet. It is helped by her incredible self-belief. “My confidence comes from all my hard work, and knowing that I am not alone in this,” Shona says. “I believe in God. I have a very close relationship with God. While I am going through all this, it’s for God’s purpose. It’s something that he wants me to do, and that’s bigger than boxing. It’s something that he has set out for me today. He wants me to inspire and reach out to those who felt like I did as a kid, when I felt all helpless and sad. I just know he won’t let me fail. My opponents are fighting God as well as me. And God is unbeatable.”

Photo Credit: Salita Promotions