Claressa Shields Is Looking for More Belts in More Divisions
There is no question that undisputed middleweight champion Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (11-0, 2 KO’s) relishes a great challenge. The Flint, Michigan native willed herself to back-to-back Olympic gold medals by the age of 21. As a professional, she remains undefeated and has captured titles in the super welterweight, middleweight and super middleweight divisions. Also, as mentioned previously, T-Rex claims the distinct honor of being an undisputed champion.
Things don’t always go her way however, such as when Shields recently branched off into MMA. In just her second match in the cage, the multi-division boxing star suffered her first defeat. Of course, Shields did not jump for joy when branded with the “L”. At the same time though, the setback in the second sport helped strengthen her appreciation for her original love of boxing.
MIND ON CONQUEST
On February 5, T-Rex will slide back though the ropes to defend her middleweight titles against the challenge of Ema “The Princess” Kozin (21-0-1, 11 KO’s). The dust-up will be her first prizefight in the square-circle in almost a solid year. As would be expected, Shields does not foresee having the most difficult time with Kozin. In fact, while not overlooking the Princess, T-Rex already has her eyes set on greater ambitions for the sport.
“Moving forward, it’s Ema Kozin first, but I have so many things that I want to accomplish in boxing. I want to fight three to four times this year, before I start focusing on MMA. And, of course I want to stay undefeated, I think I want to end my career at being a five division world champ. I believe that I can fight at 147 and maybe 175. I was thinking about 140, but that is just too little. I think that is too little.
I would like to try my chances at 147 and possibly 175 and become a five division world champion and just fight the best, and make the best fights. Whoever they feel is the best and near my weight class: 168, 160, 154, 147, 175. I just want to fight the best and kind of have a great career and make a great life for myself and for my future.”
Evidently, Shields plans on ending her boxing tenure with a bang! First things first though, before she can dream of bigger fights and glory down the line, she’ll first have to deal with Kozin. Provided that she does get past the Slovenian slugger, one fight that the boxing world would love to see is Shields versus Savannah Marshall. So, let’s see how February 5 unfolds!
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By: Bakari Simpson
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