Claressa Shields keeps pushing the boundaries of women’s boxing

By Mark Baldwin

THEIR words are often spoken with venom. Their punches even more so. Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall share a rivalry that goes beyond anything we have previously seen on the female side of the sport.

Back in 2022, at a sold-out O2 Arena, Shields sought revenge for her only defeat inside a boxing ring. Ten years on from that defeat to Marshall in the unpaid ranks, Shields got what she needed. The pantomime villain in full Apollo Creed tribute mode, she danced to the ring surrounded by boos from the vocal Marshall faithful. Shields served up a masterclass born out of 10 years waiting for the opportunity to put things right. But, despite an overwhelming victory, you sensed it was still unfinished business between the pair.

That rivalry has been simmering ever since. But when Shields was recently back in the UK to watch her old rival make her PFL MMA debut in Newcastle, the American was in full cheerleading mode. Another little change of dynamic in their quite fascinating relationship.

“The champion in me wanted to get behind Savannah and support her, even though it was supposed to lead up to another fight with me, this was still another world champion from boxing coming over to MMA, and I wanted to see her win, and she did win,” Shields told Boxing News. “How can I be mad at that? Someone doing the same thing I did. I don’t hate Savannah, I have a lot of respect for her. She was a great dance partner and I will dance with her again.”

Shields and Marshall will undoubtedly dance again in the coming months. The only question is when, and in what sport. But the two-time Olympic Champion is seeking a more immediate challenge. On July 27, she will challenge herself in a new weight category in Detroit when Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse defends her WBC heavyweight bauble against Shields. Another little potential slice of history for the charismatic multi-time world champion.

“The motivation is to show that size doesn’t matter to some people,” Shields says of why she is moving up multiple weight classes to challenge for heavyweight gold. “Some of us are looking to jump up two weight classes to see what’s up. I know weight classes exist for a reason, and I am very respectful of that. But I am just one of those fighters who can go up or down and go to what weight class I want to and win and dominate. 

“I am in training camp and I know that she is coming to change her life. If she beats me, it will change her whole life. I want to change her life by giving her a few dollars, but I don’t want her walking around saying that she beat the greatest woman of all time. So I really have to buckle down and make sure I don’t take her lightly. It can go all 10 rounds. Or it can go less.”

Shields has been beyond dominant in her most natural weight divisions. You sense her participation in MMA, and her move up to heavyweight, is to challenge herself. All the true challenges to her obvious superiority closer to home, fight at welterweight and below. But the American still has some of those fighters in her sights. For the right fight, Shields would be willing to accommodate many things.

“I am better than all of them. If I fought any of those girls at a catchweight, my skills, my technique, and the way I box, I would beat them all,” an ever-confident Shields says of those possible legacy-enhancing fights. “I would have to cut off a leg to fight some of those girls, but I would do it for the right reasons. Katie Taylor said she wouldn’t come up to 147, but I remember a time when she would come up to 147 to fight Cecilia Brækhus. If Katie would fight Brækhus at 147, then why not fight me at 147. What’s the difference?

“I want to fight all the girls that they say are good. I would love to share a ring with Katie. I would love to fight Amanda Serrano. I would love to share a ring with Alycia Baumgardner. Not because she is at the same level as the other girls, but it is the fact that she talks like she is and I would love to make her look like an amateur if I was to get in the ring with her. Some of these girls might have more knockouts than me, but they are nowhere close to being the same fighter that I am. When it comes to skills, these girls are light years behind.”

Shields is never shy to share her seemingly unwavering confidence in her own abilities. It’s been 12 years since she has lost a fight inside a boxing ring. Shields was still a teenager when Savannah Marshall inflicted that sole blemish on her resume. Unbeaten since, Shields has every right to proclaim her greatness. But even she knows that one day someone could come along and inflict defeat on her.

“Honestly, if there was a girl that beat me, I would bow and give that fighter her props,” she said. “But I have beaten the best girls so far. I have called out who they consider the best girls. I have fought them, and I have beat them. I just haven’t seen it yet, but I would love to run into the girl who is supposed to be better than me. If there is that girl, I will give her the opportunity. I will never turn a fight down.”

At 29, Shields is not done yet. She talks about fighting, in boxing and MMA for 10 more years. The many achievements haven’t dwindled her ambitions. The Hall of Fame already looms. But she wants more. Much more.

“The end goal is to be the best boxer and the best combat athlete that I can be,” Shields relayed to Boxing News. “It’s not even about the record, the accomplishments, who I fought, who I beat. It’s about my integrity and how I continue to fight through adversity. At the end, I see myself being a six-division world champion. I see myself being undefeated. I see myself having an MMA world title. I think that would be career satisfaction.”

The incredible impact Shields has made on her side of the sport is undeniable. But as she says herself, there has been adversity along the way. Those horrific traumatic periods of her early life have given way to an almost untouchable self-belief.

But Shields has battled many things in her life. Two Olympic gold medals didn’t guarantee a road ahead paved with gold. After that second gold medal in 2016, her side of the sport was very different. She was ahead of her time. Women’s boxing was still struggling for acceptance. But alongside Katie Taylor and others, Shields was part of the revolution. She earned $50,000 on her professional debut in 2016. The size of her fight purse would increase dramatically over the years. Headline status on Showtime quickly followed that first fight in her new world. Change was needed. Claressa Shields was very much helping to make that change. And quickly.

“I couldn’t imagine being a woman back in the day and not being able to show my skills and not getting the paydays and not getting the venues and stuff like that. For the women who came before me, it was way harder back then. That is where a lot of their frustrations come from because it looks like we have it so easy now. But we are still fighting for equal opportunity and equal pay. Equal fight time. 

“I remember when I turned pro, I was the first woman to fight on Showtime on premium cable. I was the first one. That meant a lot to me. After that we have seen Katie killing it over there in Ireland and in the UK. After you have seen all these other girls getting TV time. Top Rank signed some girls, and it seems like the royal dynasty right now. It seems like the golden era to me, and I am just happy to be part of that. But all the female fighters play their part. We all play our part and build up the sport. 

“I can give a lot of credit to myself and to Katie. But we can’t forget people like Amanda Serrano, Franchon Crews-Dezurn, Christina Hammer, Hannah Rankin, Savannah, and all these girls. They have all played their part in keeping up the light in women’s boxing. So a shout out to all the women because we don’t duck fights from each other. We fight. The fights you want to see, you get.”

Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano during their lightweight title fight at Madison Square Garden on April 30, 2022 (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)