On Friday, March 5, 2021, Claressa Shields successfully unified all four belts in her second division by easily outpointing previously unbeaten titleholder, Marie-Eve Dicaire.
Shields made it look easy, so it’s no surprise that immediately after the fight the interview questions began flying in regards to what the next challenge will be for the Flint, Michigan star.
By her own admission, perhaps the biggest obstacle in Shields’ way to make another mega fight is weight.
When asked by Dan Cannobio whether or not she could squeeze down to make 147, Shields had a hilarious, but valid response.
“Katie Taylor is not the worry in that sentence, the 147 is,” said Shields with a smile. “Katie is a great fighter, but they gotta pay me a lot of money for me to lose my butt to go down to 147.”
While a Savanah Marshall battle certainly has the storyline to capture fans’ imagination–she handed Shields her only loss as an amateur–Marshall has done little as a pro and is certainly not as big a name as Katie Taylor.
Taylor is the undisputed Lightweight champion, so she would need to bulk up and move up in weight to even make this scenario a possibility.
While it seems like a stretch, it just shows how good Shields is and how desperately she needs real competition in her weight class.
For now, Shields plans to make her MMA debut this summer on a fight card alongside Anthony Pettis.
Who would you want to see Claressa Shields face next?
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