Claressa Shields has admitted the delay to her fight against Savannah Marshall has affected her plans to compete in MMA.
In the first-ever all-female card in boxing history this Saturday, bitter rivals Shields and Marshall meet for the undisputed women's middleweight title. The fight was originally scheduled to take place on September 10, but was pushed back over a month after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Shields was planning to compete on the upcoming PFL Championship card on November 25 in New York, but the five-week pushback of her fight with Marshall could spoil that opportunity.
“Right now it’s still up on the air,” Shields said of her MMA return. “It’s just about how my body feels after my fight with Savannah Marshall. I love to fight and I love to compete, I like MMA. I never want to cancel one of my other cheques because of boxing, but we’re just keeping it open right now.”
Without any amateur experience under her belt, Shields made her professional MMA debut in June 2021, when she produced a comeback to stop Britney Elkin after losing most of the fight. The two-time Olympic gold medalist, who headlined a PFL event in her debut, suffered defeat in her next outing as she lost a split decision to Abigail Montes later that year.
Shields has been eager to get back in the cage, but an undisputed fight with Marshall presented itself after the Brit defended her WBO title against Femke Hermens in April.
Who wins this Saturday - Claressa Shields or Savannah Marshall? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below!
Although Shields isn't ruling out an appearance on the PFL Championship event entirely, she wants to have time to get more MMA training under her belt. "If we would have fought in September, I definitely would have fought in November." she continued.
"Now that it’s October 15, it’s pushing me close. I want to have time to prepare, time to rest and switch up my mindset because boxing and MMA is like apples and oranges."
Shields has been working with former two-weight UFC champion Henry Cejudo in the hopes of fine-tuning her MMA skills and is confident that she will eventually be a world champion in the sport. "I know I can be PFL champion one day," she said. "Will it be in 2023 or 2025? Who knows, but I know that if I have the time to train and get the experience I will do very well. It's just that, I haven't had the time yet as I've been in MMA for around a year."
