‘They Should Be Applauding Me’- Claressa Shields Says Even Female Boxers Didn’t Support her

After dominating female boxing for half a decade, Claressa Shields is set to lay her feet inside the MMA world under the PFL flag. The boxing legend will make her debut against Brittney Elkin inside the Ocean Casino Resort, Atlantic City, on June 10. Despite competing under the PFL banner, ‘T-Rex’s bout will not be a part of the promotion’s regular season.

Recently, the boxing great appeared for an interview with TheMacLife. In the chat, she talked about her debut fight and many other things. One particular thing the legend stressed was the presence of egos in the boxing world.

“I think that in boxing, like I said, there are a lot of egos, you know,” she said. “The generation before us, with the women, and the generation that just left.”

“Like they don’t wanna give fighters…you hear Sugar Ray Leonard talk trash about Errol Spence. You hear Laila Ali talk trash about me. Christy Martin talked trash about me, you know.”

She further added, “It’s like really they should be applauding me, you know. I don’t have the dad who was the famous, the best boxer in the world, the GOAT…so you thought you get a hand clap for that but instead I get hate.” 

The hate though hasn’t stopped Shields (11-0) from establishing herself as the most decorated female boxer. ‘T-Rex’ became the first pugilist to become undisputed in two divisions simultaneously.

Why Claressa Shields chose PFL over UFC?

It’s a no-brainer that UFC is the biggest MMA promotion in the world. Hence, the belief was that a fighter as accomplished and iconic as Shields should have made her debut for UFC. She could have even headlined an event against Amanda Nunes.

However, ‘G.W.O.A.T.’ clarified what made her choose PFL instead of UFC. She revealed that she had a conversation with Dana White over the same.

“It was just the conversation. It wasn’t like ‘hey come and train a few months and then fight against the best girl we have at your weight’.”

“I feel like that’s unfair to me. It’s not giving me enough time to learn. If you’re talking about letting me train for two years and then fight against the best girl you have, all right cool.”

“The conversation with Dana (White) was almost like a one-fight deal kind of a little bit,” she said. (MMA Fighting)

It’s almost a given that Shields will have lofty goals in MMA. However, for now, she will be looking to make an impact against Brittney Elkins.

Do you agree with Shields’ demand for respect after her achievements?

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