Only 26 years old and arguably atop her sport, Claressa Shields has plenty to brag about. But as she continues to cement her legacy in the increasingly intriguing and competitive landscape of women’s boxing, Shields knows she also has plenty to work on. Because Floyd Mayweather told her so.
“He says I’m young and I’m too anxious in some of my fights and that he sees more knockouts in the future when I calm down and relax,” says Shields. “He tunes in all the time and says he sees constant improvement.”
Precisely what kinds of new tricks—or ring rust—we’ll see out of the WBC, WBA, and IBF middleweight champ is what has fans and boxing observers hyped about Shields’ return to the sport Saturday. Easily among, if not the best pound-for-pound boxer in the women’s game, Shields hopes her bout in the United Kingdom against Ema Kozin (3 p.m. EST, FITE.TV) serves as a reminder to everyone that the most dynamic boxer hasn’t fallen off one bit. As a subplot, a resounding performance should serve as a springboard for a massive fight against the only person who has defeated Shields in the amateur or professional ranks: Savannah Marshall.
Should Shields (11-0, 2 KOs) take care of Kozin (21-0-1, 11 KOs) and Marshall take care of her next opponent, the enemies almost assuredly will be steered toward a super showdown in the States come summer. Confident as ever with Mayweather firmly in her corner, Shields isn’t afraid to talk about the next fight before her next fight—unlike a lot of her male counterparts
“There’s a reason I’m going to the UK, is to chase Savannah Marshall because she has been running from me,” says Shields. “So after I beat Ema Kozin and put on a great show, Savannah Marshall has a fight coming up, and after that fight me and her square off. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”
We caught up with Shields a few weeks before this weekend’s fight. The Flint, Michigan native talked about the disrespect she’s receiving when it comes to the women’s pound-for-pound rankings, the advice Mayweather offered up in the gym, and what the women do better than the men in the forever fucked up sport of boxing.
(This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.)
The sport’s building up toward a huge showdown between you and Savannah Marshall, but she’s not your next opponent. Yet that’s what most people tuned into women’s boxing want to talk about or point to regarding you right now. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
I think, 1. that everybody’s excited to see me return to boxing, it’s not really about the fight with Savannah Marshall. People want to see me box. I’ve been in the cage for the past nine months, so to be able to get back inside the ring, everybody wants to see if I box the same, if I box different, better, stronger, faster, you know. It’s always good to have a fight to look forward to. When Floyd was coming up, everybody always looked forward to him fighting [Manny] Pacquiao. So the fights inbetween, people tuned into those fights, but only to rate him against Pacquiao. Ema Kozin is a very good opponent. I think we’re going to put on a really, really good fight. I think the fight will actually steal the show because Chris Eubank and Liam Williams is the main event, but we’re the only title fight on the card.
You recently said, “The boxing world has forgotten who the best female fighter is since I’ve been doing MMA,” even though you were only gone for a brief time. Why do you feel that way?
We’ve all seen the pound-for-pound list. I’ve always been 1 or 2. Now I’m 2 or 3. And that’s just from inactivity and Amanda Serrano has put on a great performance and Katie Taylor’s been busy. And they just booked a fight for Madison Square Garden. Super excited for them. When people don’t see you, they just put other people above you, but I’ve always been ranked No. 1 or 2 on the pound-for-pound list. That’s why I said they’ve kind of forgot.
I was going to ask you about the pound-for-pound list at some point so I’ll bring it up now: Do you feel like you should still be No. 1?
I am pound-for-pound No. 1. When you look at a pound-for-pound list, what are you looking for? You’re looking for a fighter who can fight at any weight class who not only possess skills, but power, speed, combinations, and defense. Right? I feel like I have all of those at a percentage [more] than all the other women. I think Katie has tremendous skill, tremendous speed, but her defense is lackluster. She gets hit a lot. In my fights, I get hit six times in five rounds. That’s defense on top of me having a great offense and I’ve fought against some pretty tough opponents. And accomplishments. Amanda Serrano is a seven-division world champion. I’m a three-division world champion. But I’m also undisputed in two different weight classes. Amanda hasn’t conquered the undisputed chain yet. Looking at her, she has tremendous boxing power, but she gets hit a lot. When we talk about skills, skills are being able to attack without being attacked back. I’ve never had a majority or split decision in boxing. Every decision has been a unanimous decision. I have great technique and great speed and great power. I’m not self-proclaimed nothing. It’s facts. It’s facts.
So whether you are the self-proclaimed GWOAT or the certified GWOAT, what’s been the hardest part about staying atop the boxing game?
To me, the hardest part is knowing my worth, dealing with the networks, and trying to get the best fights. We called out Savannah Marshall in 2018 when I had two belts and her and her team declined the fight with us. That was the fight everybody wanted to see back in 2018. It was hard making a fight with Christian Hammer and she had to have all these perks and get paid this insane amount of money. For me, the hardest part is making the biggest fights with the girls who everybody considers the best. We’ve reached out and tried to fight everybody. That’s why I’ve been at weight classes 160, 168, and 154.
You brought up Floyd. You’ve been training at his gym in Las Vegas leading up to this fight and he’s been there while you’ve been working out. What’s been one of the more lasting lessons you’ve learned from him?
Just make the surroundings around you what you’re comfortable with. Have people you want around that’s going to add to your energy and add to your work ethic and make everything easier for you to do your job. And just from training with him, he’s very laid back, funny and stuff. Him just saying that my skills are above and beyond that. My power is above and beyond. He says I’m young and I’m too anxious in some of my fights and that he sees more knockouts in the future when I calm down and relax. He tunes in all the time and says he sees constant improvement, that was something he told me.
What does a knockout feel like when you deliver it? I always ask boxers this because everyone has a unique answer.
I really can’t answer that because I just go in there and destroy my opponents. In the two knockouts I have in the pros, like you know you’re about to get the knockout and as you’re delivering that last punch—well for me, it’s like the ref had to come in and save the girls both times. I could see the stoppages coming, your mind is ticking at 100 miles per hour because you see everything open but you have to pick the right shots. Once you land the right shots, you don’t know which one is going to put them down. But once the fight is over or the ref steps in, you just feel like this super joy of relief because who doesn’t want a knockout?
What do the best women’s boxers do better than the best men’s boxers?
We make the best fights. The men, world champions, work hard. Just like the women’s world champions. What they do well is having more patience because they have more time, because if you put a man in there for two minutes and you say hey, win this round, it’s going to be a problem for a lot of men. You don’t get to have that patience and look and see. You have to master two minutes and then rest for a minute after you beat somebody down, they come back the next round, they come back refreshed. Women’s boxers make the best fights. We have those fights where the women don’t mind putting their belts on the line and just going for it. Either going home with everything or going home with nothing. I think the men have a huge problem with that because why haven’t we seen Canelo vs. [Jermall] Charlo? Or Canelo vs. Demetrius Andrade? Or Errol Spence vs. Terence Crawford? How come the fight hasn’t been made? But we can get Shawn Porter vs. Terence Crawford or Errol Spence vs. Shawn Porter. But we make the best fights.
