Shadasia Green Moves Past Friendship and Targets Shields Fight
In a sport as rough and rugged as boxing, it’s not the most common occurrence to find fighters who are very good friends when they reside in the same or neighboring weight classes. Despite the improbability, two time Olympic gold medalist and undisputed middleweight champion Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (14-0, 2 KO’s) and WBC and WBA super middleweight mandatory challenger Shadasia “The Sweet Terminator” Green (13-0, 11 KO’s) shared such a bond. Sadly, yet not unexpected, the sun has set on their friendship and now only a bitter rivalry remains.
In a recent interview with A-Side Boxing Talk, Green admitted that at the root, it was her own actions that spoiled their comradery.
“Me and Claressa used to be close, very close, and we use to spar a lot. And she fought Christina Hammer for her undisputed . . . I went to Christina Hammer camp to help her prepare for Claressa Shields. That was no-no, that stopped our friendship. Again, we are not talking some friends like, ‘hey Claressa,’ we were tight!”
“Any time I did a Go Fund Me or any time I was raising money to go fight at a tournament, she was also the first person to donate. So when she turned pro I was still in the amateurs and we just never talked. She never found out truly from me. She found out from one of my other mentors which was Kendall Holt by asking her how she felt about me going to Christina Hammer’s camp. But it wasn’t just about the money with Christina Hammer, Christina Hammer had about twenty-something fights and I really wanted to test to see where I stood up against a champion.“
“It wasn’t just an ordinary friendship, we were tight. So with that being said, for years I understood what I did wrong and that’s why at first when she used to come at me, I would be reluctant to respond. But okay! Enough is enough, I did what I did but you not going to keep coming at me crazy. You know what I am about, you know what’s up with me, you know how I am coming. We shared the ring with each other, stop playing!”
FROM HOMIES TO ON SIGHT OPS
With her latest win over the tough and capable Olivia Curry, Green is free to pursue undisputed super middleweight champion Savannah Marshall. And while she certainly wants to get her paws on Shields, denuding Marshall of all her hardware is at the top of The Sweet Terminator’s hit list. Afterwards however, Green will resume putting her full attention on securing a bout with her chum-turned-callous-combatant Claressa Shields.
[When asked if Shields was next after Marshall]“Absolutely, absolutely! She wants to fight me and now I want to fight her!”
Clearly the stage is set for a great fight with a Hollywood-worthy backstory. So let’s hope that we can get Green and Shields in the ring sooner rather than later. First however, Green will have to take care of business with Marshall, assuming no acts of fate keep that duel from taking place.
