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Eric Woodyard, ESPN
ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Claressa Shields is still undecided on whether she will remain at heavyweight after she takes on Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse on Saturday night, but she’s open to staying in the division and becoming undisputed champ if she can get the major fights to happen.
“My goals that I have for boxing are way bigger than what everyone else can see. Everybody wants me to retire right now. I’m about to have 15 world titles, be a four-time division champion, and they’re like what else can you do? But, for me, it’s plenty more you can do,” she told ESPN at the Detroit Lions‘ training camp, where she visited Thursday. “There’s always going to be somebody to fight unless all the girls in the world are like, ‘look Claressa, we’re just not fighting you,’ but that’s not going to happen because all of these girls are competitive, and they want to prove themselves. So, I’m always going to have a fight.”
Shields, the self-proclaimed GWOAT — “Greatest Woman Of All Time” — is moving up to heavyweight in an attempt to win a world title in a fourth weight class.
Lepage-Joanisse (7-1, 2 KOs) is the current WBC heavyweight champion. The vacant WBO heavyweight title will also be on the line Saturday at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. Shields (14-0, 2 KOs) doesn’t anticipate the fight to go the distance. It is set for 10 rounds.
“I am predicting a KO. … But with this one, fighting at heavyweight, if you want to go with Round 5, you can go with Round 5, and if you’re feeling lucky, you can bet on Round 7,” Shields told ESPN. “She’s supposed to be the heavyweight, but I think that her underestimating me is why the fight will actually end in a knockout because she’s not expecting me to hit as hard as I hit and that’s what I like.”
Shields, boxing’s pound-for-pound queen, will be entering the ring for the first time in over 13 months when she defended her undisputed middleweight titles with a decision win over Maricela Cornejo at 160 pounds on June 3, 2023.
Although she is ranked No. 1 on the ESPN women’s pound-for-pound list and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, the 29-year-old doesn’t feel that her greatness is truly appreciated among fans.
“I worry about appreciating me. And I do,” Shields said. “I feel like I haven’t got my utmost respect yet, but I know that I respect myself and I know that everything I’ve accomplished has been off grit and hard work and nobody can take that away from me.
“I think that it’s getting close to being appreciated. Right now, I can’t focus on who appreciates it and who don’t,” she said. “I’ve got to make sure that I appreciate my greatness. I think that people look for too much validation from other people. I feel like if you live by the compliments you will die by the insults. We all know that fans are up and down.”
During her visit at training camp, Shields shared boxing tips with All-Pro receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown as he walked off the practice field.
She was challenged to a sparring session by rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold. She also received a pep talk from coach Dan Campbell and posed for pictures with her numerous world title belts alongside owner Sheila Ford Hamp at the newly named Meijer Performance Center.