Claressa Shields loves a good fight.
In a boxing ring. Inside an MMA cage. On X, Instagram or whichever social media platform where trolls test her patience.
Whatever, wherever, the remarkably resilient, unapologetic “GWOAT” is there for it. What else would be reasonable to expect from a courageous woman who barely spoke until she was 9 years old, then developed a stutter, survived sexual abuse and, even as the most accomplished women’s boxer in the history of the sport (and Uncrowned’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter on the planet), forever feels she is being told what she can’t do?
What at least some of Shields’ antagonists either conveniently overlook or choose to ignore, however, is that the commendably resistant Shields delivers both in and out of the ring. A two-time Olympic boxing champion and three-division undisputed champion, the Flint, Michigan, native might embrace battles on social media that she knows, deep down, she should ignore from time to time, but she is a figurative fighter almost as much as she is literal fighter.
In drawing national attention to her hometown’s water crisis and worldwide spotlights on what she believes are inequalities in purse disparities among male and female boxers, Shields demonstrates a genuine understanding that it is imperative she puts her money and her very being where her mouth is. In a world littered with transparent phonies and motionless motormouths, Shields doesn’t just talk about it — she is, indeed, about it.
Shields, 29, maintains a home in Flint and makes sure the children she has inspired there can seek her out to better understand what it takes to become successful and overcome meager beginnings. Though Shields (15-0, 3 KOs), whose father was imprisoned early in her life, quite literally fought her way out of abject poverty, she wants girls and boys from her hometown, and well beyond its limits, to understand that there are countless paths to take toward creating better lives for themselves and their families.
Hers has been so unique that a major motion picture about her life, “The Fire Inside,” will be released by Amazon MGM Studios in theaters nationwide Christmas Day.
The greatest of athletes typically are forced to wait until their careers end to become subjects of such high-profile projects, but this is another in a long line of firsts for Shields. George Foreman, for example, had to wait until almost 26 years after end of the second phase of the former heavyweight champion’s career for a motion picture on his life to be released in 2023.
“I am so happy that this is happening,” Shields told Uncrowned, “and I’m so proud of the full cast, Rachel Morrison, the director, Ryan Destiny [who stars as Shields]. Man, it’s just so exciting to see this all unfold. With me being who I am and where I come from, with me being the pound-for-pound number one woman fighter in the world right now, to have a biopic put out on my life at this stage of my career, it’s just crazy to think of that.
“I’m just excited to see what it does for me and what it does for my career moving forward, because I’m very much not retired.”
The three-division undisputed champion is scheduled to make her heavyweight debut Feb. 2 at Dort Financial Center in Flint. That’s where Shields will battle Houston’s Danielle Perkins for Perkins’ WBC title and the vacant IBF and WBO titles for women boxers who compete above the light heavyweight limit of 175 pounds.
There is not a cruiserweight division for women. Shields and the 42-year-old Perkins will meet at a contracted catchweight of 180 pounds, a concession made for Shields because she is more of a natural middleweight, whereas Perkins weighed in at 195 pounds or more for each of her first three professional fights.
The fact that the unbeaten Perkins is a heavyweight champion, when she has only five fights and two knockouts on her pro record, is reflective of the lack of depth in most women’s divisions. It is not the least bit indicative of the impact Shields has made on the sport since she won her first gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Shields thought her life would improve immediately after capturing gold 12 years ago. She thought about appearing on cereal boxes and starring in major commercials.
Instead, she struggled to pay bills while working toward another Olympic appearance. After taking home a second gold medal from Rio de Janeiro four years later, her purse was $25,000 for her pro debut on the Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev undercard in November 2016 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Shields’ persistent push to be paid what she feels she is worth eventually led to her first seven-figure purse in October 2022, when she avenged the only loss of her amateur or professional boxing career by beating British rival Savannah Marshall (13-1, 10 KOs) by unanimous decision in their 10-round middleweight championship match at O2 Arena in London.
The biggest fight in the career of “The Greatest Woman Of All Time” was, rather ironically, postponed more than a month because Brits customarily mourned the death of Queen Elizabeth II throughout the week when Shields and England’s Marshall were initially scheduled to box in September 2022. Two years and three months later, Shields is prepared for what is, metaphorically, her own crowning achievement.
“When I think about having a biopic about my life, I think about all the great fighters that don’t have a biopic about their life,” said Shields, who is a combined 79-1 as a professional and amateur. “And I’m like, ‘Whoa!’ I’m very appreciative. It’s like, ‘Wow! You’re an important enough piece to the world and an important enough piece to boxing that someone wants to tell your story, that someone of Ryan Destiny’s stature wants to play you in a movie.’ I’m just really excited about all of it. It’s a little bit of pressure because at the end of my movie it shows you the real me fighting, when I’m taking Olympic gold, and it shows you who I am now. I’m a 15-0 world champion, three-time undisputed [champion], the only fighter to do that in history, the first person to be a two-weight undisputed champion in the four-belt era. And I’ve still never lost.
“So now it’s like, now with my career continuing, it kind of gives the girls more ammo to want to beat me. It makes them more mad, because it says that, ‘Oh, she never lost and she’s the greatest woman of all time.’ I think with that, it puts an even bigger target on my back. I really have to over-perform now because I have more fans now and more people that will be tuning in who just learned about me. They want to see what all the hype was about. So, I have to continue to get better and continue to put on great performances and win.”
Dmitriy Salita, Shields’ career-long promoter, has helped guide her since she won her second gold medal, along with manager Mark Taffet, a former HBO Sports executive most known for running the network’s pay-per-view division. Salita, who was a junior welterweight contender before he became a promoter, nearly cried “at least four times” while watching “The Fire Inside” at advanced screenings.
It puts an even bigger target on my back. I really have to over-perform now because I have more fans now and more people that will be tuning in who just learned about me. They want to see what all the hype was about.Claressa Shields
While extremely familiar with the struggles his franchise fighter overcame, the movie reminded Salita of how proud he is to be associated with such an impactful, fearless fighter.
In addition to her boxing career, Shields is 2-1 in MMA for PFL, a minor competitor of UFC. Shields was already an elite-level pro boxer and had no MMA experience at any level when she began training in those disciplines both to challenge herself and to supplement her boxing income.
“To me, outside of the fact that I’m her promoter, she is an American hero and a real inspiration who has accomplished many firsts in women’s boxing,” Salita told Uncrowned. “A lot of times, Claressa gets criticism because she is very outspoken. She speaks her mind and doesn’t hold back.
“But for new things to happen for athletes or social media influencers or politicians to break through and to create change and to let people know that things are wrong, you need to have a loud voice and broad shoulders. And Claressa has both. She has a loud voice, she has broad shoulders and she does not stand for inequality or for any second-class treatment. She has proven that all along the way.”
The magnitude of this Christmas Day movie premiere could’ve enabled Shields to oppose Perkins in any big-time fight city like Las Vegas, Los Angeles or New York. She insisted, though, on returning to Flint for her next fight, just five weeks after her movie’s release throughout the nation.
She hopes her heightened profile brings influential people back to her hometown, where its water supply remains problematic. Shields resides in Florida part-time these days, but Salita knows how important it is for her to maintain a consistent presence in the troubled city that made her.
“For kids in Flint to see Claressa in the supermarket, to see her in the gym, to see her walking down the street, that’s inspiration,” Salita said. “You can see someone that’s in the prime of her career, that made it, and who has had a movie made about her. That’s one of the highest honors a human being can have.
“Most athletes have movies made about them after they’re done with their careers or they’ve passed away. But Claressa has a movie coming out about her at the peak of her career. That is unheard of and quite incredible. She’s a living legend. But there’s much more to accomplish and I believe that in many ways, she is just getting started.”
