The road to success is beset with doubters and disbelievers. But, what about a made man or a woman? Particularly, what if you are a 2-time undisputed champion in boxing and the world’s best active female middleweight champion? Whatever your social status and accomplishments, there is no dearth of trollers on social media who are ready to tear down your credentials. In addition, some are even brave enough to challenge you to a fight. This is exactly what happened when an internet troller rocked up at the HitsvilleGym in Atlanta to have a showdown with Claressa Shields. As expected, it didn’t go well for the person who goes by LOUISVILLE SLUGHER on Instagram. She has been trolling the ‘GWOAT’ relentlessly on social media and figured she had the boxing prowess to back up his trash talk.

“I CANT BELIEVE THIS PUNK Axx GIRL PULLED TO @hitsvillegym after trolling me for months! And couldn’t last more than 30 seconds. I damn near killed this H*3″ Shields wrote on Instagram. A cursory look at the troller’s Instagram profile shows that she has been training in a boxing gym from a very early age. In one Instagram post, she claimed she won the Silver Gloves in 2005 by beating former MMA star Ronda Rousey. But, the gulf in boxing prowess was quite evident as she went up against the Olympic gold medalist.

In the video posted by Shields, the bell rang and the two boxers met in the middle. Right off the bat, the troller threw a couple of jabs and a cross but Shields was able to evade it easily. Then Shields went on an all-out offensive. Delivering a double jab to confuse her opponent, a subsequent cross connected flush on the headgear of her opponent.

In the midst of the fight, Shields’ opponent could be heard saying, “Come on with it”, and the former junior-middleweight champion turned it up a notch. Boxing on the front foot, Shields’ aggressive approach forced her opponent into a corner. And then came a barrage of punches from Shields: crosses, jabs, a thunderous body shot, and powerful combinations; all connected. The bell saved the troller from further damage and it looked like Shields was just getting warmed up.

But, to Shields’ displeasure, the fight didn’t continue to the next round. The opponent cited that the “left glove had 2hole” and her manager had to stop the fight. Nonetheless, the ‘GWOAT’ was mad that she couldn’t inflict further damage on her hater. Things got heated and both fighters were about to come to blows but the referee stepped in to prevent further chaos. The video came to the notice of boxing luminaries and they shared their two cents on the fight footage.

A soul-crushing reality check!

That was quite a humbling experience for the self-proclaimed “Queen of the Ring”. But, the LOUISVILLE SLUGHER claims that the footage does not give the whole story. “Yes Me AND CLARESSA SHIELDS FOUGHT TODAY N NO SHE AINT BEAT MY SSA! THEY GOT THE FOOTAGE UP AND KEEP TAGGING ME she felt me and they stopped it that’s the truth,” the Instagram post read. Regardless, if the video that is currently out there is considered, it was nothing but a one-sided beatdown, And the boxing community agrees wholeheartedly!

On that note, the two-time undisputed male champion Terence Crawford commented, “Can’t play boxing”. Surely, boxing isn’t like any other sport and any lapses in your skill level can lead to serious damage. Therefore, for an average person to go up against an elite boxer like Shields could only be termed as suicidal. Thankfully, there was headgear to protect her from CTE.

Meanwhile, the two-time former Welterweight champion, Andre Berto stated on Instagram, “Now why u do that sis”, lamenting the beatdown Shields’ hater received. Not to mention, the loss of face for the person as the footage is going viral on the internet.

The teenage prodigy Curmel Moton also couldn’t help himself from commenting on the beating that Shields’ naysayer received. “Noo not the stud,” Moton wrote on Instagram.

But, for Brazilian-American Mixed martial artist and professional boxer Cris Cyborg, the pairing inside the ring was a mismatch. Is she insinuating that the sparring session would have been a fair contest if Shields’ opponent was of the same weight class? Taking to X, Cyborg wrote, “Claressa 15 pounds heavier than the girl.”

Whatever the case, Shields is up to fight anyone. Whether it is the virtual space or the boxing ring, she will leave no stone unturned to prove his doubters wrong. To put things into perspective, it does take a lot of courage to call out male boxers like Keith Thurman and Gennady Golovkin. Nonetheless, what do you think about Shields sparring an internet troll? Let us know in the comment section below.