The GWOAT of girls’s boxing just lately opened up about her transition to blended martial arts on the position Amanda Nunes performed in her choice.
Hailing from Flint, Michigan, Claressa Shields is taken into account by many to be the very best feminine boxer of all time. One fast have a look at her resume, and also you’ll rapidly perceive why. Except for holding a number of world championships throughout 5 completely different weight lessons, Shields is certainly one of solely 4 boxers in historical past, feminine or male, to carry all 4 main world titles in boxing—WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO—in two weight lessons.
After dominating her competitors contained in the squared circle, Shields turned her consideration to the Good Cage, signing with the Skilled Fighters League and making her promotional debut in June 2021.
Although she struggled within the early going, Shields finally received her bout in opposition to Brittney Elkin by way of a third-round TKO after Elkin gassed out. General, she is 2-1 within the PFL, including a split-decision loss to Abigail Montes adopted by a split-decision win over Kelsey DeSantis.
Shields isn’t afraid to battle Amanda Nunes
Throughout an interview with P4P nice Andre Ward, Shields revealed that some harsh phrases from former two-division UFC champion Amanda Nunes are what satisfied her to commerce in her eight-ounce gloves for a pair of four-ouncers.
“I said, are y’all stupid? In a boxing match, I would destroy Amanda Nunes,” Shields mentioned. “Let’s be real now. MMA? Pump your brakes. I’ve got to put in some years and years for that. But boxing? Stop playing with me—with my left and my right.”
“So Amanda mentioned, ‘Tell Claressa she’ll come to my world, and I’ll choke the [expletive] out of her.’ That’s what she mentioned. And I mentioned, ‘This girl thinks I’m afraid of getting choked? You suppose I’m afraid of preventing her?’ Yeah, I’m gonna present these women. I battle—I’ll battle y’all, however y’all received’t battle me. It’s two completely different fights—apples and oranges. I’ll come over there and peel that orange, however you received’t come over right here and chew this apple. It’s two various things.
“So, for me, it was just to tug at them, make them mad, to show them. Like, I knew it was going to be hard, but I actually enjoy MMA.”
Although Shields has dove headfirst into the world of MMA, she is way from finished in boxing. 5 months after her win over DeSantis at PFL vs. Bellator in Saudi Arabia, she went on to seize the WBC and WBF feminine heavyweight titles by way of a second-round knockout of Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse.