Kaye Scott: “I want to win the fight. I am going in there to fight and to keep my belts.”

Kaye Scott: “I want to win the fight. I am going in there to fight and to keep my belts.”

“Some people look at the odds. I look at the opportunity.” It’s that quote from Kaye Scott that says many things.

This weekend in Atlanta, Georgia, Kaye Scott defends her WBC and WBA world middleweight titles against Claressa Shields. And many will forget that it is Shields who is the challenger, and Scott is the current unified middleweight champion of the world. It is the opportunity of a lifetime for Scott. And the challenge of a lifetime also. The odds might say otherwise, but Scott believes there is an upset in the air.

“It’s very exciting,” Scott told me over Zoom. “I knew I was a potential option for her next fight quite a while ago. There were a few other names being mentioned, but I couldn’t take any other fights; I had to stay inactive. I couldn’t make myself unavailable for the fight with Claressa. So it’s really exciting to be on a huge platform like that against one of the best in the world.”

The resume of Shields is unblemished. And impressive. Undefeated in eighteen professional fights. Undisputed in three different weight divisions. The odds are long. The American is the overwhelming betting favourite to add yet another little milestone to that extensive record of hers. Many have already, somewhat unfairly, written the Australian off even before a punch has been thrown. But Scott sees it differently.

“People have said, ‘Why would you want that fight? Don’t you want to keep your belts?’ But first of all, they are my belts; she just doesn’t have them. Claressa will have to come and take them off me. And I want the opportunity to fight and beat the best. I just laugh when they say, ‘Why is Claressa going in with this 42-year-old lady?’ They have no idea, but I am really pumped for it.”

“I know it’s a big ask, and everything needs to go in my favour,” Scott added. “She has got more experience than me as a pro, and she has that pinnacle amateur career behind her as well. Claressa has got great attributes, but she isn’t an unbeatable fighter. I know I will need to have everything aligned for me, but I think we can do it.”

Scott and Shields know each other from their amateur days. “I have actually sparred with her way back in the day when we were amateurs. I did five or six rounds with her in Colorado Springs.”

The American has been competing in the heavyweight ranks over the last few years, and she hasn’t fought at middleweight since 2023. That could be seen as an advantage for Scott.

“Claressa is naturally a middleweight fighter; she is not a heavyweight,” Scott says. “It’s not that much weight to lose, and she was always thinking of coming back down. But she will have to work to do it, and that will be in my favour. I walk around at middleweight, which I am very happy to do now. I want to be happy while I am fighting. I don’t want to be doing heavy weight cuts. I am very happy eating my food and training fully fueled. So that’s a little bonus for me that she has to work a little harder to come back down.”

“Another thing that will go in my favour is that she will underestimate me,” Scott goes on to say. “I know that she is coming into this fight with another one already lined up. Get these belts off Kaye, and then focus on the bigger fight that comes next. But I know what I can bring, and I know I will be defensively sound. I have a very good chin. I know that. I think I can work well on the inside. I know she will be very strong in the first half of the fight. But I can survive that. I won’t be going in to glide around on the outside to survive and just say that I went ten rounds with Claressa. I won’t be taking backwards steps the whole time. No way. I want to win the fight. I am going in there to fight and to keep my belts. I want to win and challenge myself.”

“I am working with a mindset coach,” Scott added. “But it’s a little easier for me because I have known Claressa all the way through the amateurs. I have been in training camps when she has been there. It’s not that I don’t put her on a pedestal and recognise what a great athlete she is. But I can normalise her a bit more. I know I can go in there and be competitive. If I go in with my A-game, I know I can beat her. She is very strong and very quick. But there are also a lot of holes. I’ll be ready.”

Kaye Scott (5-1) is no overnight success. An amateur career that started in 2009. Nearly twenty years of hard graft leading up to her showdown with Shields on Saturday night.

“People say I am lucky to get this fight,” Scott says. “But I have worked so hard over the last twenty years. I was selling chocolates to go and fight overseas. Even when I got my silver medal at the world championships, I never got anything for it. I have always worked full-time and all that kind of stuff. I know that I have earned this opportunity. I am going to make every second count in there and do everything I can to be victorious.”