Sports
Boxing champion Claressa Shields signs contract to join world of mixed martial arts
Updated 8:50 AM; Today 8:50 AM
Claressa Shields has won world boxing championships in three divisions. (Jake May | MLive.com)Jake May
By Brendan Savage |
bsavage@mlive.com
FLINT – Claressa Shields is crossing over to the world of mixed martial arts.
Shields, who has won three world boxing titles faster than anyone in history – male or female – has signed a contract to join the Professional Fighters League, the organization announced in a press release Tuesday Dec. 1.
PFL said Shields “will look to enter the 2022 PFL Season after a series of special attraction fights in 2021.”
Shields, a two-time Olympic boxing gold medalist from Flint, has a 10-0-0 record with two knockouts as a professional but hasn’t fought since last January because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shields has dubbed herself the Greatest Woman Of All-Time and has become the face of women’s boxing.
“I want to thank Professional Fighters League and (CEO) Peter Murray for believing in me and giving me this amazing opportunity,” Shields said in a prepared statement. “What drew me to the PFL is that it is definitely a fighter-first organization, and I can’t wait to be a part of that.
“Since turning pro it has been my goal to be the GWOAT and to be a two-sport star like Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders. I want to go where no man or woman has gone and hold championships in both boxing and MMA at the same time.
“I can’t wait to get to work.”
Signing with PFL doesn’t mean Shields’ boxing days are over.
“Claressa will continue to box professionally as she embarks on her multi-year PFL MMA career,” Murray said. “Fans will get to experience her professional MMA debut in 2021, which can be seen across the United States via ESPN, as well as in 160 countries all over the world,”
“She has transcended sports and has become a global icon, and an inspiration to aspiring young athletes. Claressa is an incredible human being, a bona-fide star athlete, and has an amazing story.”
The 2021 PFL season begins April 23 and will continue April 29, May 6, June 10, June 17 and June 25. There will be a regular season and playoffs leading up to a championship bout with a $1 million top prize.
Bouts will be broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
Shields was scheduled to fight Canada’s Marie-Eve Dicaire (17-0, 0 KOs) for the undisputed super welterweight championship May 9 in Flint when the coronavirus forced its postponement.
Her promoter, Dmitriy Salita, said the fight vs. Dicaire is still in the works and will take place once a TV date is finalized. Shields has become a headliner on Showtime boxing cards.
In her only fight this year, Shields recorded a unanimous decision over Croatia’s Ivana Habazin Jan.10 to win the undisputed junior middleweight championship. She previously won championships in the middleweight and super middleweight divisions.
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