CLARESSA SHIELDS LEARNED AS A YOUNG OLYMPIAN TO TAKE NOTHING FOR GRANTED, AND SINCE THEN SHE HAS WORKED TIRELESSLY TO ELEVATE HERSELF AND WOMEN’S BOXING

Claressa Shields could retire in time to enjoy her 30th birthday and her many accomplishments would still likely stand the test of time. 

Personal achievement has never been the end game, however, for the self-proclaimed GWOAT (Greatest Woman of All Time). This month alone – National Women’s Month – is the reminder of the greater mission for equality that continues to be a work in progress.

Shields (14-0, 2 knockouts) has done her part in the ring, both amateur and pro. One of the many goals for the Flint, Michigan native is to ensure that the sport is in a better place whenever she decides to call it a career. That means raising awareness for those around her and paving a way for the next generation to carry the torch without breaking stride. 

“We’re all role models and just have to be representation,” Shields told The Ring. “That’s something we never had. People talk about Laila Ali, Lucia Rijker and Christy Martin. Those girls didn’t pass down the torches to nobody. They didn’t say, ‘Hey, this is the next girl. Pay attention to this one.’ Once they didn’t get what they wanted, they were just like, ‘Well, forget women’s boxing.’ 

Shields dominated in her most recent boxing match, outpointing Maricela Cornejo in every round to defend her undisputed middleweight championship. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

“You have to be an ambassador for the sport, or else the sport will die.”

The mission is constantly carried out even in a sport often resistant to love her back. 

Shields, who turns just 29 on March 17, learned long ago that she would have to fight for her place at the table. Two gold medals, two Ring championships, 11 major titles claimed in three weight divisions as a pro and multiple records broken collectively still aren’t enough to silence her critics. 

The first real taste came during her participation in the 2012 London Olympics. It was the first year where women in boxing were permitted to compete in the quadrennial competition. Fittingly, Shields became the first American woman – and the only, to date – to capture the gold. Her three-win sweep of the middleweight field ended an eight-year drought for U.S. Olympians, male or female, dating back to Andre Ward’s perfect run in Athens 2004. 

“You have to be an ambassador for the sport, or else the sport will die.”

Four years later, Shields repeated the run during Rio 2016. She remains the only American boxer to ever win back-to-back gold medals in the history of international Olympic competition. 

In between, Shields forgot – because she was never taught – to live in those historic moments. What she achieved was lost in what she saw as a lack of support and a significantly lower standard, compared to the benefits afforded the men’s side.

“After I won the Olympics the first time when I was 17, I spent two years crying about it,” admitted Shields. 

Shields and promoter Dmitriy Salita at the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Annual Salute To Women In Sports in October 2023. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images for WSF)

“Crying that I didn’t get the endorsements and sponsorship. I did get the gold medal – the only person to get the gold medal this time around. I’m the only American boxer to get it twice. 

“I spent years trying to make myself perfect from age 17 to 19. Then going into the next Olympics, I spent the next two years trying to be perfect. One day, I just woke up and was like, ‘Listen, you won the gold medal, but it’s still the same mindset. Ain’t nobody gonna give you shit. So go out there and prove to the world why you deserve it.’” 

That same drive carried over into the pro ranks, and with a bit more help than expected. Among the surprised were those who agreed to come on board. 

Many in the sport scratched their heads when it was learned that Shields signed with Salita Promotions, an independent outfit headed by former contender Dmitriy Salita. Additionally, Shields entered a pact with Mark Taffet, the decades-long former HBO Pay-Per-View executive who mastered that field but was brand new in the managerial side of boxing. 

“I didn’t plan this to happen,” admitted Taffet, who oversaw most of the sport’s biggest events through more than 30 years with HBO. “But Claressa is one of the three top three talents and greatest fighters I’ve ever seen: Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Roy Jones Jr. being the other two. 

“Her boxing IQ, skills and natural talent are something to behold. She has continued to get bigger and better, beyond imagination.” 

It would take a lot of imagination, as there still existed a long road ahead. 

Women in boxing are far more embraced today than was the case ahead of Shields’ November 2016 pro debut. Of the batch that competed prior to her arrival, Amanda Serrano (46-2-1, 30 KOs) remains the only one who continues to compete at the elite level. The Puerto Rican icon is often named alongside Shields and Ireland’s Katie Taylor (23-1, 6 KOs) as the sport’s pound-for-pound best. 

Shields (No. 1), Taylor (No. 2) and Serrano (No. 4) own three of the top four spots on The Ring’s current top 10 list. 

Serrano has won major titles in a women’s record seven weight divisions and became Puerto Rico’s only undisputed champion in the history of the multi-belt era with her win over Erika Cruz in February 2023. Still, it took her epic April 2022 superfight with Taylor to elevate her to a place where the pay and the appreciation caught up to the achievements. 

The April 2022 fight between Katie Taylor (left) and Amanda Serrano, which Taylor won by split decision, was considered by some to be the fight of the year, male or female. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Matchroom)

Taylor was forced to pose as a boy and enter tournaments as “Kay Taylor” until 2001, when it was finally legal for females to box in her native Ireland. She was 15 years old at the time of the nation’s first-ever women’s bout. Eleven years later, Taylor helped open the door for all women in boxing to compete in the Olympics, where she joined Shields in a gold medal win during London 2012. 

Their journeys, as well as the sacrifices made by many, many others, will never be lost on Shields, who knows she can’t fight the battle alone. 

“As I continue to box, I want to make the sport bigger,” said Shields. If all the women get bigger, we all get bigger. It doesn’t mean if people think I’m pound-for-pound number one, if it’s Katie or Amanda. 

Shields, here at the 2023 ESPYs Awards, understands entertainment as much as she does fighting. (Photo by David Livingston/FilmMagic)

“I feel like the bigger we are, my name is always going to be connected to their name. Their name is going to be connected to my name. We all just have to build our brands and have something for the next generation to look up to. We’re all doing our due diligence.” 

Granted, there are more than her fair share of rewards that have come through her already-historic boxing journey. 

Shields boasts multiple entries in the Guinness Book of World Records. She became a two-division titlist in the fewest number of fights (six), the fastest to fully unify all the titles within a weight division (middleweight by ninth pro fight) and two fully-unified championships by fight 13. 

Her 10-round points win over England’s Savannah Marshall (13-1, 10 KOs) was rewarding on many levels, beyond her becoming the first boxer in the multi-belt era to simultaneously hold two undisputed championships. Marshall remains the only boxer to ever defeat Shields, amateur or pro (Marshall beat her in the second round of the AIBA World Championships in 2012). That fact was the major storyline leading into their October 2022 undisputed middleweight championship. 

Shields outpointed Marshall in one of the year’s best fights, and also the most-watched women’s pro boxing match in history. More than two million viewers tuned into Sky Sports in the United Kingdom for a superfight that headlined an all-women’s card in front of a sold-out crowd at London’s O2 Arena. 

The show featured some of the sport’s top current talent as well as plenty of notable fighters in the infancy of their respective pro journeys. Alycia Baumgardner defeated then-unbeaten Mikaela Mayer to win the Ring 130-pound championship in the evening’s co-feature. A trio of British Olympians – gold medalist Lauren Price, bronze medalist Karriss Artingstall and current top lightweight contender Caroline Dubois – all registered wins on a show that was the most popular Sky Sports boxing telecast since 2014. 

“It was a historic event,” said Ben Shalom, whose BOXXER promotional company presented the event. “We staged something many thought wasn’t possible, and it will go down in the history books. We hope it has set the stage for what is to come.” 

When given the proper support, success will follow. It’s a mantra carried out by Shields for her own fights and for all those she seeks to uplift. 

“Me, Katie, Amanda, Caroline Dubois… we’re always shining the light on those who are up-and-coming,” stated Shields. “We have Oshae Jones right here in America. Olympic bronze medalist, she’s pro at 154 and getting ready to fight for a world title. We’re paving the way for girls like that, who are right there behind us. Bringing awareness to them makes them bigger. If they do fight one of us, our fans will now follow them. 

“The men do it all the time. I don’t understand it. Women who fight on the undercard of me brings them more attention, more notoriety. My fans become their fans.”

The latest example came in her most recent pro boxing match. Shields outpointed Maricela Cornejo over 10 rounds atop a June 3 DAZN show from Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena, home of the NHL’s Red Wings. The first-ever boxing event at the venue drew 11,784 in attendance.

Yet it remains Shields’ lone boxing match since the historic victory over Marshall. Through all of the accolades, Shields still has to explore other mediums to keep active and add to her lofty bank account. 

Shields is currently 2-1 as a mixed marital artist who competes as part of the PFL (Professional Fighting League). Her most recent win came in a February 24 split decision over Kelsey De Santis in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The PFL event took place as part of Riyadh Season.

Shields (facing off with Kelsey De Santis in February 2024 in Riyadh) has moved into mixed martial arts as way to satisfy both competitive and professional desires. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

The greater victory came outside the sport in which Shields remains a novice: She was part of the first-ever women’s MMA bout in the kingdom where women’s rights continue to pale in comparison to the rest of the world. 

A feature film, Flint Strong, based on a 2015 documentary of the same name chronicling Shields’ early years, is due for nationwide release in August. By then, Shields hopes to have completed her first boxing match of 2024. 

Regardless of how far her love for the sport exceeds what comes back in return, Shields will never lose sight of the most important fight of her life. 

“Boxing is my priority,” Shields insists. “MMA is also a priority as well. I have to keep entertaining. It’s what I want to do and it keeps me happy. Fighting in general keeps me happy, just building the sport. The bigger I get, the bigger everybody else gets, because their name is always going to be tied to mine.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Follow @JakeNDaBox