One of the good things about a shallow talent pool is that the world’s best fighters have to get a little creative if they want to be challenged.
In the case of Claressa Shields, that has meant traveling all the way up to heavyweight in search of new goals and opponents. After all, she has already won world titles at junior middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight. She has already cleaned out more than one weight class.
Now, having successfully defended her heavyweight belts in February against Danielle Perkins, the 30-year-old American is again exploring what she should do next. Her options, she says, are open. So, too, are her eyes.
“I want to fight everybody,” Shields, 16-0 (3 KOs), told Sky Sports. “We’ve got some new blood on the scene. I’ve seen Lauren Price fight and I was like, ‘Wow, pretty impressive.’”
Earlier this month Price, 9-0 (2 KOs), defeated Natasha Jonas over 10 rounds to lift the IBF and WBC welterweight titles. For now, as a welterweight, the Welsh southpaw competes at a weight almost 30 pounds lighter than Shields’ current fighting weight, though Shields insists she is capable of coming down if Price is willing to move up.
“Yeah, that’s the lowest I can get,” Shields said when asked about fighting Price at junior middleweight (154 pounds). “And if she wants to fight at 160 [middleweight], too, don’t be afraid to eat a hamburger and come on up.”