Boxing fans would be hard-pressed to name another fighter as accomplished in the sport as 26-year-old Claressa Shields. The Flint, Michigan native won a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London when she was just 17 years old. Shields traveled to Rio four years later to become the first American boxer to win a second Olympic gold medal.
The success multiplied for Shields as a professional. It took her nine fights to become the undisputed middleweight champion of the world. Two victories later, she added all four super welterweight belts to her collection. The best female boxer on the planet is now ready to make her debut as an MMA fighter.
Claressa Shields will fight on a Professional Fighters League fight card in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on June 10. She will share the ring with Brittney Elkin.
“I never got my just due in boxing,” is Shields’ response when asked about her MMA fighting decision. She says twenty world titles as a boxer would earn her no more reward than she has already enjoyed.
Claressa Shields identifies the million-dollar prize the PFL hands out to league champions at the end of each season as one reason she joined the league. She notes that her largest boxing purse to date stands at $350,000.
Shields respects her new sport and knows she is a long way from challenging for a championship. The four-ounce gloves used for MMA fights should benefit her as a striker. But she must also show that she can defend against takedowns, absorb kicks, and ward off submission attempts.
Claressa Shields makes it clear that her MMA debut is not the end of her boxing career. She says she wants to become the first woman to hold a world title in both sports simultaneously.
“Holly Holms did it one at a time,” Shields explains while crediting the two-sport champion with helping her prepare for her MMA debut. “I want to be MMA champ and boxing champ at the same time.”