By: Hans Themistode
There is essentially no one left for Claressa Shields to face.
After unifying the 168-pound division earlier in her career, Shields went on to become an undisputed belt holder at 160 pounds and most recently, she doubled up on her undisputed tag by dropping down in weight yet again to win every single title at 154 pounds.
Her claim as the best female fighter in the world is difficult to fulminate against considering the lack of options she has at her disposal.
Currently, the only other fighter who is worth mentioning in terms of serious competition, is undisputed lightweight champion, Katie Taylor. The weight discrepancy however, makes their showdown more of a pipe dream.
Or maybe not.
Following her latest win over Marie Eve Dicaire this past Friday night, Shields revealed that she would be willing to go down even lower in weight if a matchup with Taylor can be made.
Despite Taylor holding an undefeated record, numerous world titles and worldwide recognition as one of the greatest female fighters of her generation, Shields seemed unaffected by her long list of accolades.
To the Flint Michigan native, handling Taylor won’t be much of an issue. But dragging her body down even lower in weight will be.
“Katie Taylor is not the worry in that sense,” said Shields during her post-fight interview. “The 147 is. Katie is a great fighter.”
For Shields, facing Taylor at 147 pounds will make her feel strange when she walks past the mirror. Losing a few extra pounds for a male fighter isn’t viewed as much of a big deal. In her case however, Shields likes what she sees whenever she looks at her reflection and knows that if she does drain her body down to the welterweight limit, that she’ll ultimately lose an important part of her curvy body.
“They got to pay me a lot of money for me to lose my butt to go down to 147. At the end of the day, I’m a woman and that’s something that I love about my body. I may not have big breasts but I got a nice butt and I would lose that to go to 147.”
As much as she adores her body though, Shields would be perfectly alright with trading in her curves for a big bag of cash.
“They need to come with that dough and I’ll be seeing Katie at 147. At least with a million, talk to me nice.”
For Taylor, she has never competed at 147 pounds, although she did make one appearance at 140 roughly two years ago against Christina Linardatou. Taylor would win that contest via unanimous decision.
While it’s too early to assume that they will in fact fight, at this point in time, the Taylor might just be the only competition left for Shields.